North Atlantic Smaller Companies trust rebuffs 'misleading' shareholder claims

Nanoco holding

The £682.5m North Atlantic Smaller Companies investment trust (NASCIT) has accused a shareholder challenging the board of one of its holdings of making erroneous claims about the trust.

Nanoco, a nanotechnology firm, is held by NASCIT through its holding in the Oryx International Growth fund and has faced a shareholder rebellion against its board from private investor Tariq Hamoodi, who holds a 3.4% stake in the firm. Investec: Proportion of all-male investment trust boards falls to less than 5% Hamoodi is attempting what Nanoco CEO Brian Tenner described as a "backdoor takeover attempt", pushing to remove the board and replace the CEO and chair. He has made a raft of claims against the company, which Tenner described as "misleading", adding "we have no idea where...