17 June 2026
If you are covering the latest developments in the saga between Workspace Group and Saba Capital Management, please find below a comment from Oli Creasey, head of property research at Quilter Cheviot:
"This morning, Saba Capital Management has published a more in-depth information pack regarding its proposed plans for Workspace, the flexible work space provider with sites across Greater London.
"Having built up a significant stake of almost 25%, Saba initially went public earlier this year with a call for the UK REIT to sell all assets in an accelerated manner and return capital to shareholders. Today's announcement is more nuanced, and while wholesale property sales are still on the agenda, the 12 month timeframe has been dropped and instead a 3-stage sale process is being recommended by the hedge fund. Still proposing selling all assets, but doing so in a more controlled way.
"The plan is interesting, though still bumps up against the fundamental issues of the first proposal, which is that there are real questions over the breadth and depth of the investment market for Workspace's types of assets. Admittedly, Workspace itself has been selling assets recently, and achieving prices close to book value, but has done so at a slower rate than Saba would be happy with, and without the "motivated seller" classification, which Saba's proposal would undoubtedly attract. What isn't discussed in Workspace's recent announcements is how many property sales were explored and then pulled because offers were unlikely to meet management's expectations? It may be none, but more likely is that what Workspace sold last year were low-hanging fruit, and repeating the process will become more difficult as these are picked. If Workspace accelerates its plans, would-be buyers are likely to try and take advantage, and achieved prices could be lower. The hedge fund makes the fair point that share buybacks would be better use of capital than recycling into asset refurbishment, but the choice is rarely a simple one - real estate can require capex spent simply to maintain value or appear sellable in the estate agent window and without capital being spent, value could be further eroded.
"Saba also notes rising costs at the REIT, and inefficiency compared to peers. Here, there is a valid argument to be made - Saba's presentation makes it clear that revenue per employee is lower than many would be happy with, and notes considerable over-spend on a key CRM system upgrade. However, Workspace is by its nature a less efficient company - unlike many office REITs, whose properties occupy prime Central London locations and command top rents per square foot, Workspace does not. A building requires the same number of staff to manage it regardless of its location - Workspace's efficiency might be better compared to self-storage operators like Big Yellow rather than a prime London developer like GPE.
"Governance also gets some time in the spotlight, with independent director shareholdings under scrutiny. It is true that the board is not well-aligned financially with shareholders, given relatively small shareholdings. However, some governance commentators would prefer directors to not hold significant stakes in the company lest they own too much to be considered truly independent. On the other hand, it must be acknowledged that the board has overseen a considerable negative return for shareholders, both in absolute and relative terms, as well as the abrupt departure of the CEO they appointed just 14 months prior (though Saba's involvement may have accelerated his resignation!). A new board might prove to be better custodians of shareholder value (though it is a shame that Saba's proposed group is all-male).
"Ultimately, Workspace has not delivered for shareholders over recent years, and there have clearly been mistakes and issues that deserve to be addressed. Saba's revised proposal is more rational than the original version, but doubts remain as to whether the plan can be achieved. Much rests with the opinion of Nicholas Roditi - the company's largest shareholder owns a significant stake and a decision to support Saba (or simply abstain) could create a voting bloc that proves difficult to overcome."
