The arithmetic looked daunting for the board of a £1.1 billion Scottish company as it attempted to see off a move by a US hedge fund to take control.

The crunch vote appeared to be on a knife-edge.

Thankfully, other shareholders turned out in force.

And this proved crucial to the board of Baillie Gifford US Growth Trust’s attempts to see off New York-based hedge fund manager Boaz Weinstein’s Saba Capital Management.

That and, of course, the fact that 99.2% of votes cast by shareholders other than Saba and Sessa Capital IM, which is also based in New York, went with the recommendations of the board of the Edinburgh-based investment trust.

This overwhelming opposition among these other shareholders to Saba’s resolutions to appoint three individuals of its choosing to the board of Baillie Gifford US Growth, at the trust's annual general meeting last Friday, spoke volumes.

And it should also send a clear signal on just how urgently greater protections are required to stop a large minority shareholder getting its way when the vast bulk of other investors are opposing the major change it is trying to force.

This was the third time in the space of less than two years that Saba had moved against the Baillie Gifford US Growth board.

Baillie Gifford chief executive Tim Campbell had told The Herald in an exclusive interview late last month that it would be “incredibly sad” if Saba succeeded in its move on this major Scottish-based investment trust, which had total assets of around £1.1bn at September 30.

He declared that Baillie Gifford US Growth, managed from Edinburgh by the investment house he heads, has done an “amazing job” for shareholders.

Stockbroker Investec has calculated that Baillie Gifford US Growth ranked third out of 124 UK-based open and closed-ended US equity funds from initial public offering to September 21 this year.

Unfortunately, Saba did eventually oust the board of Edinburgh Worldwide Investment Trust,........

© Herald Scotland