Two of the Hipnosis Songs (SONG ) directors targeted by activist Metage Capital have resigned in another sign of the ugly mood among investors ahead of tomorrow’s crunch shareholder meeting.

The board of the £886m music royalties fund said this afternoon that non-executive directors Andrew Wilkinson and Paul Burger had resigned, and the resolutions to re-appoint them withdrawn from the agenda of the annual general meeting. 

Andrew Sutch, the chair who has already bowed to investor pressure and said he will step down before next year’s AGM, said: ‘On behalf of the board, I would like to thank Andrew and Paul for their commitment and important contribution to the company over the past five years.’  

The departure of Burger, senior independent director, and Wilkinson, chair of the board’s audit and risk management committee, looks like a climbdown to avoid them being voted off the board.

It could also be a last-minute concession to wring investor support for the investment company’s continuation. Investor unrest at the fund’s dismal share price performance - with the stock trading at around half its underlying asset value - combined with a controversial proposal to sell a fifth of the portfolio at a knockdown price to the fund manager followed by last week’s dividend cut, have put investors in a mutinous mood, which rival activist, Asset Value Investors has sought to exploit. 

It owns a 5% stake through the AVI Global Trust (AGT ) and has called for shareholders to vote against both the resolutions for SONG’s continuation and the sale of the song catalogues to a sister fund run by its manager Hipgnosis Song Management on behalf alternative assets group Blackstone.