N-2 |
Apr. 01, 2026 |
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| Cover [Abstract] | |||||||||||||
| Entity Central Index Key | 0001282957 | ||||||||||||
| Amendment Flag | false | ||||||||||||
| Document Type | DEF 14A | ||||||||||||
| Entity Registrant Name | The Gabelli Global Utility & Income Trust | ||||||||||||
| Capital Stock, Long-Term Debt, and Other Securities [Abstract] | |||||||||||||
| Security Voting Rights [Text Block] | Delaware
Statutory Trust Act – Control Share Acquisitions
The
Fund is organized as a Delaware statutory trust and thus is subject to the control share acquisition statute contained in Subchapter III
of the Delaware Statutory Trust Act (the “DSTA Control Share Statute”). The DSTA Control Share Statute applies to any closed-end
investment company organized as a Delaware statutory trust and listed on a national securities exchange, such as the Fund. The DSTA Control
Share Statute became automatically applicable to the Fund on August 1, 2022.
The
DSTA Control Share Statute defines “control beneficial interests” (referred to as “control shares” herein) by
reference to a series of voting power thresholds and provides that a holder of control shares acquired in a control share acquisition
has no voting rights under the Delaware Statutory Trust Act (“DSTA”) or the Fund’s Governing Documents (as used herein,
“Governing Documents” means the Fund’s Declaration of Trust and Amended and Restated By-Laws,
together
with any amendments or supplements thereto) with respect to the control shares acquired in the control share acquisition, except to the
extent approved by the Fund’s shareholders by the affirmative vote of two–thirds of all the votes entitled to be cast on the
matter, excluding all interested shares (generally, shares held by the acquiring person and their associates and shares held by Fund insiders).
The
DSTA Control Share Statute provides for a series of voting power thresholds above which shares are considered control shares. Whether
one of these thresholds of voting power is met is determined by aggregating the holdings of the acquiring person as well as those of his,
her or its “associates.” These thresholds are:
Under
the DSTA Control Share Statute, once a threshold is reached, an acquirer has no voting rights with respect to shares in excess of that
threshold (i.e., the “control shares”) until approved by a vote of shareholders, as described above, or otherwise exempted
by the Fund’s Board of Trustees. The DSTA Control Share Statute contains a statutory process for an acquiring person to request
a shareholder meeting for the purpose of considering the voting rights to be accorded control shares. An acquiring person must repeat
this process at each threshold level. The DSTA Control Share Statute effectively allows non-interested shareholders to evaluate the intentions
and plans of an acquiring person above each threshold level.
Under
the DSTA Control Share Statute, an acquiring person’s “associates” are broadly defined to include, among others, relatives
of the acquiring person, anyone in a control relationship with the acquiring person, any investment fund or other collective investment
vehicle that has the same investment adviser as the acquiring person, any investment adviser of an acquiring person that is an investment
fund or other collective investment vehicle and any other person acting or intending to act jointly or in concert with the acquiring person.
Voting
power under the DSTA Control Share Statute is the power (whether such power is direct or indirect or through any contract, arrangement,
understanding, relationship or otherwise) to directly or indirectly exercise or direct the exercise of the voting power of shares of the
Fund in the election of the Fund’s Trustees (either generally or with respect to any subset, series or class of trustees, including
any Trustees elected solely by a particular series or class of shares, such as the preferred shares). Thus, Fund preferred shares, including
the Series A and Series B Preferred Shares, acquired in excess of the above thresholds would be considered control shares with respect
to the preferred share class vote for two Trustees.
Any
control shares of the Fund acquired before August 1, 2022, are not subject to the DSTA Control Share Statute; however, any further
acquisitions on or after August 1, 2022, are considered control shares subject to the DSTA Control Share Statute.
The
DSTA Control Share Statute requires shareholders to disclose to the Fund any control share acquisition within 10 days of such acquisition,
and also permits the Fund to require a shareholder or an associate of such person to disclose the number of shares owned or with respect
to which such person or an associate thereof can directly or indirectly exercise voting power. Further, the DSTA Control Share Statute
requires a shareholder or an associate of such person to provide to the Fund within 10 days of receiving a request therefor from the Fund
any information that the Fund’s Trustees reasonably believe is necessary or desirable to determine whether a control share acquisition
has occurred.
The
DSTA Control Share Statute permits the Fund’s Board of Trustees, through a provision in the Fund’s Governing Documents or
by Board action alone, to eliminate the application of the DSTA Control Share Statute to the acquisition of control shares in the Fund
specifically, generally, or generally by types, as to specifically identified or unidentified existing or future beneficial owners or
their affiliates or associates or as to any series or classes of shares. The DSTA Control Share Statute does not provide that the Fund
can generally “opt out” of the application of the DSTA Control
Share Statute; rather, specific acquisitions or classes of acquisitions may be exempted by the Fund’s Board of Trustees, either
in advance or retroactively, but other aspects of the DSTA Control Share Statute, which are summarized above, would continue to apply.
The DSTA Control Share Statute further provides that the Board of Trustees is under no obligation to grant any such exemptions.
The
Board of Trustees has considered the DSTA Control Share Statute. The Board of Trustees has adopted resolutions exempting from the application
of the DSTA Control Share Statute acquisitions of preferred shares of beneficial interest of the Fund directly from the Fund or the Fund’s
distributor, underwriter, placement agent or selling agent, as applicable. As of the date hereof, the Board of Trustees has not received
notice of the occurrence of any other control share acquisition nor has been requested to exempt any other acquisition. Therefore, the
Board of Trustees has not determined whether the application of the DSTA Control Share Statute to any other acquisition of Fund shares
is in the best interest of the Fund and its shareholders and has not exempted, and has no present intention to exempt, any other acquisition
or class of acquisitions.
If
the Board of Trustees receives a notice of a control share acquisition and/or a request to exempt any acquisition, it will consider whether
the application of the DSTA Control Share Statute or the granting of such an exemption would be in the best interest of the Fund and its
shareholders. The Fund should not be viewed as a vehicle for trading purposes. It is designed primarily for risk-tolerant long-term investors.
The
foregoing is only a summary of the material terms of the DSTA Control Share Statute. Shareholders should consult their own counsel with
respect to the application of the DSTA Control Share Statute to any particular circumstance. Some uncertainty around the general application
under the 1940 Act of state control share statutes exists as a result of recent federal and state court decisions which have held that
control share acquisition provisions in funds’ governing documents are not consistent with the 1940 Act. The Board of Trustees has
considered the DSTA Control Share Statute and the uncertainty and the general application under the 1940 Act of state control share statutes
and enforcement of state control share statutes. The Board of Trustees intends to continue to monitor developments relating to the DSTA
Control Share Statute and state control share statutes generally. Additionally, in some circumstances uncertainty may also exist in how
to enforce the control share restrictions contained in state control share statutes against beneficial owners who hold their shares through
financial intermediaries.
The
limitations of the DSTA Control Share Statute described above could have the effect of depriving shareholders of an opportunity to sell
their shares at a premium over prevailing market prices by discouraging a third party from seeking to obtain control over the Fund and
may reduce market demand for the Fund’s common shares, which could have the effect of increasing the likelihood that the Fund’s
common shares trade at a discount to net asset value and increasing the amount of any such discount.
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