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Workspace Group PLC has materially underperformed against sector peers and should embark on an ‘ambitious programme of strategic property disposals,’ activist investor Saba Capital Management LP proclaimed on Tuesday. Detailing its proposed strategy for the London-based flexible workspace provider, Saba stated: ‘Few would dispute that Workspace has failed its investors. Over the past five years, the company has delivered a total shareholder return, including dividends, of [minus 48%], materially underperforming comparable UK REITs. Its shares continue to trade at the widest discount to net asset value (NAV) in the sector. ‘The question is therefore not whether change is required. It is which strategy offers shareholders the greatest certainty of restoring value.’ Workspace shares were 0.4% higher at 328.65 pence on Tuesday in London. They have fallen 17% over the past year. Saba acknowledged Workspace management’s turnaround strategy, but criticised it as ‘risky’. The company had, alongside its annual results in June, said it plans to ‘reposition’ its business around changes in tenant needs, by recycling proceeds from property sales ‘into low-risk, high-return portfolio improvements including a new managed offer, alongside a space-only offer’. The results included a £120.5 million pretax loss, lower revenue, and cutting its final dividend by 12% to 16.7p per share. Saba, on Tuesday, said it has ‘little confidence’ that management’s strategy will succeed, due to its ‘long record of value destruction’. ‘We continue to believe that the right path forward is a disciplined capital allocation strategy centred on substantial share repurchases, funded through a more ambitious programme of strategic property disposals,’ Saba said, reiterating the plans it outlined in a letter to shareholders in mid-June. In the letter, Saba said it had identified a disposal roadmap covering 56 assets. It was also seeking shareholder support for six board nominees ahead of a vote on its proposals. On Tuesday, Saba released a presentation and answers to shareholders’ ‘practical questions’. This included reassuring shareholders that it has ‘developed a detailed execution plan with leading real estate advisers,’ based on ‘selective disposals’ of one to two properties at a time in ‘geographic clusters’, with various potential incentives like flexible lease terms to help tenants relocate. ‘Rather than shrinking the business indiscriminately, the objective is to concentrate the portfolio around stronger assets while recycling capital into highly accretive share repurchases,’ it said. Saba also stated that its board nominees ‘are wholly independent’ and ‘bring decades of experience across listed real estate, real estate capital markets, portfolio optimisation, corporate governance, restructuring, capital allocation and complex strategic transactions.’ Copyright 2026 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
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