Schroder UK Mid Cap (SCP) and Middlefield Canadian Income (MCT) have responded to US activist investor Saba Capital’s latest proposal to switch the investment trusts to open-ended funds.

The board of SCP said it is ‘considering with its advisers the validity of the proposal’, while the MCT board simply acknowledged the requisition and said it is ‘committed to acting in the best interests of all shareholders’.

Both boards recommended that shareholders take no action at this time and said a further announcement would be made in due course.

It comes after the board of CQS Natural Resources Growth & Income (CYN) described Saba’s latest strike as being ‘without merit’ and a ‘wasteful’ use of shareholder resources.

A fourth trust, European Smaller Companies (ESCT), is yet to respond to the move.

Saba is proposing that all four trusts transition to a comparable open-ended strategy to provide greater liquidity for shareholders.

It comes after shareholders in six trusts, including ESCT and CYN, voted against Saba’s bids to oust their boards.

Edinburgh Worldwide (EWI ), the small-cap portfolio run by Baillie Gifford, is the last of seven targeted trusts to go head-to-head with Saba, with votes being counted on Valentine’s Day tomorrow.