NEW YORK, Jan 21 (Reuters) - BlackRock ( BLK ) and Saba

Capital Management announced a standstill in a long-raging

battle over the future of closed-end funds with the asset

manager buying back shares in two portfolios and the hedge fund

dropping demands for deep management changes.

BlackRock ( BLK ), the world's biggest asset manager, said it will

buy back 50% of outstanding shares in its BlackRock Innovation

and Growth Term Trust ( BIGZ ) and 40% of outstanding shares in

Health Sciences Term Trust for a price of 99.5% of each

fund's net asset value. A total of roughly $1.6 billion is being

tendered in these funds alone, more than has ever been available

to investors.

In return, Saba, a large owner in BlackRock's ( BLK ) closed-end

funds, agreed to stop its campaigns at dozens of BlackRock ( BLK ) funds

calling for fresh directors to be installed and for BlackRock ( BLK ) to

be fired as some of the funds' manager.

The agreement lasts for three proxy seasons.

"This is a monumental outcome for shareholders," Saba's

founder Boaz Weinstein wrote on social media platform X. He said

the settlement shows how shareholders and managers can find a

"win-win" solution. "By committing to shareholder-friendly

initiatives, liquidity events and governance enhancements, value

can be unlocked for all investors."

Saba's Weinstein has for years waged a battle against

closed-end funds run by BlackRock ( BLK ) and other companies that

oversee billions of dollars, arguing they charge high fees and

deliver lackluster returns with limited opportunities for

average investors to get their money out.

The settlement comes some seven months after BlackRock ( BLK )

shareholders voted at 10 of its closed-end funds to keep the

asset manager's directors in place and retain it as the manager

at six funds. Saba has long criticized the gap between the

assets held by closed-end funds and their share prices and

wanted to install new directors and at some funds fire the

manager.

Closed-end funds, unlike open-end funds, don't issue or

redeem new shares, which can leave them trading above or below

the value of the securities held by the fund.

Weinstein has been crusading against these types of

portfolios for some time and late last year took his fight

overseas by urging shareholders in seven UK investment trusts to

replace directors and install his hedge fund as the manager. He

argued the current boards failed to deliver "sufficient

shareholder returns."