BlackRock Materially Misled Stakeholders by Announcing Results That Exclude All of Saba's Votes and Other Supportive Shareholders

Shareholders Voted for Each of Saba’s Nominees by Wide Margin in Two of BlackRock’s Largest Funds – BIGZ and ECAT – and Potentially Other Funds That Have Yet to Be Tallied

BlackRock’s Outrageous Behavior Follows the Court Reaffirming That BlackRock Violated Federal Law and the Court Permitting Saba’s Lawsuit to Overturn the Manager’s Rigged Election System to Proceed to Trial

Saba Capital Management, L.P. (together with certain of its affiliates, “Saba” or “we”) today issued a statement regarding its campaign to improve the Boards of Trustees of 10 poorly governed and underperforming closed-end funds managed by BlackRock Advisors, LLC (“BlackRock”) and BlackRock’s intentionally false and misleading press release issued on June 28, 2024.

Boaz Weinstein, Founder and Chief Investment Officer of Saba, said:

“Our campaign shined a light on BlackRock’s hypocrisy as an ESG profiteer, while maintaining shameful governance at its own closed-end funds. There is a great injustice that continues as BlackRock refuses to let its fund owners have their voices heard. This is particularly intolerable considering the significant financial losses shareholders have suffered as nine out of the ten BlackRock funds have delivered negative returns over the last three years. BlackRock’s Friday press release only added insult to injury by making clear the manager’s disdain for its investors. In removing Saba’s votes and others who also voted for Saba's nominees from its 2024 Annual Meeting vote tally, BlackRock has slumped to a new low where anything goes – even outright deceit.

BlackRock has created an unlevel playing field by manufacturing rigged elections that allow its hand-picked trustees to serve indefinitely. According to BlackRock’s rules, if 52 people show up to vote out of 100 registered voters, the winning party must receive support from 50 of them – or 96% of the votes. It's a fact that shareholders by a huge margin chose Saba’s nominees for BIGZ and ECAT (and potentially other funds that have yet to be tallied). In some cases, Saba received roughly 2x the votes BlackRock did. Yet, BlackRock is undeterred from blissfully ignoring the outcome and issuing a statement that falsely claims victory – when in actuality they lost in a landslide.

BlackRock’s flagrant disregard for the truth and its investors is unacceptable. While the world’s largest asset manager has attempted to paint Saba as a self-serving investor with undue influence, the courts have upheld that every share gets to vote. Saba is proud to have clients that include millions of U.S. pension employees who are invested in a strategy that has fixed dozens of broken closed-end funds. BlackRock, on the other hand, was found to have violated federal law because it stripped votes last year, removed Saba’s holdings from its vote tally this year and continues to maintain a rigged election system across its closed-end funds. Looking ahead, we plan to hold BlackRock accountable in court for its continued flouting of federal law. Shareholders deserve to have their voices heard.”

Preliminary Voting Results of BIGZ and ECAT 2024 Annual Meetings

BlackRock Innovation and Growth Term Trust (NYSE: BIGZ)

Saba's Nominees

 

For

Against

Abstain

Ilya Gurevich

72,812,673

832,071

190,258

Shavar Jeffries

72,826,638

819,106

189,258

Jennifer Raab

57,240,005

16,404,612

190,383

David Littlewood

57,249,664

16,395,482

189,953

David Locala

72,842,321

805,353

187,328

Athanassios Diplas

72,801,186

845,813

188,003

Alexander Vindman

57,195,707

16,452,550

186,743

BlackRock's Nominees

 

For

Against

Abstain

Cynthia L. Egan

38,341,904

3,833,235

823,249

Lorenzo A. Flores

38,038,290

3,905,798

1,054,298

Stayce D. Harris

38,243,188

3,891,512

863,685

R. Glenn Hubbard

38,086,316

3,858,382

1,047,546

W. Carl Kester

37,114,615

3,800,479

1,075,378

Catherine A. Lynch

37,418,793

3,707,175

870,507

John M. Perlowski

37,178,273

3,751,995

1,060,203

 

 

 

BlackRock ESG Capital Allocation Term Trust (NYSE: ECAT)

Saba's Nominees

 

For

Against

Abstain

Ilya Gurevich

39,264,545

395,713

254,417

Shavar Jeffries

31,744,622

7,915,360

254,694

Jennifer Raab

31,907,192

7,917,088

90,396

David Littlewood

31,740,433

7,914,772

259,471

David Locala

31,740,483

7,913,974

260,219

Athanassios Diplas

39,427,016

393,852

93,807

Alexander Vindman

31,728,232

7,931,861

254,583

BlackRock's Nominees

 

For

Against

Abstain

Cynthia L. Egan

21,151,631

939,349

348,214

Lorenzo A. Flores

21,143,312

943,681

352,203

Stayce D. Harris

21,174,760

924,446

339,989

R. Glenn Hubbard

21,103,305

965,253

370,637

W. Carl Kester

21,110,233

952,498

376,465

Catherine A. Lynch

21,199,975

913,496

325,724

John M. Perlowski

21,111,719

966,584

360,894

Update on Saba’s Legal Proceedings Against BlackRock

Earlier this week, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York denied BlackRock’s motion to dismiss Saba’s lawsuit against the BlackRock ESG Capital Allocation Term Trust (NYSE: ECAT) (“ECAT”) and all 10 of its incumbent trustees. The court’s ruling paves the way for Saba’s lawsuit to proceed to trial. There, we plan to hold ECAT and its trustees accountable for adopting an illegal “Entrenchment Bylaw” that deprives shareholders of their right to elect directors annually.

Additionally, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit reaffirmed an earlier ruling that 11 closed-end funds, including two managed by BlackRock, illegally adopted control share provisions in violation of the Investment Company Act. The appellate court’s ruling upheld Saba’s victory over these funds that broke federal law by illegally stripping shareholders’ right to vote all of their shares in an election.

***

About Saba Capital

Saba Capital Management, L.P. is a global alternative asset management firm that seeks to deliver superior risk-adjusted returns for a diverse group of clients. Founded in 2009 by Boaz Weinstein, Saba is a pioneer of credit relative value strategies and capital structure arbitrage. Saba is headquartered in New York City. Learn more at www.sabacapital.com.

1 The 10 BlackRock closed-end funds include: the BlackRock California Municipal Income Trust (NYSE: BFZ), BlackRock Capital Allocation Term Trust (NYSE: BCAT), BlackRock ESG Capital Allocation Term Trust (NYSE: ECAT), BlackRock Health Sciences Term Trust (NYSE: BMEZ), BlackRock Innovation and Growth Term Trust (NYSE: BIGZ), BlackRock MuniHoldings New York Quality Fund (NYSE: MHN), BlackRock MuniYield New York Quality Fund (NYSE: MYN), BlackRock MuniYield Pennsylvania Quality Fund (NYSE: MPA), BlackRock New York Municipal Income Trust (NYSE: BNY) and BlackRock Science and Technology Term Trust (NYSE: BSTZ).

Longacre Square Partners Charlotte Kiaie / Kate Sylvester, 646-386-0091 ckiaie@longacresquare.com / ksylvester@longacresquare.com

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