LICs face fresh pressure after Milton disappears

Listed investment companies face fresh pressure to address the scourge of perpetually trapped shareholder value after one of the ASX's largest LICs, Milton, agreed to a $10.8 billion merger that will transform it into a conventional investment company.

Milton will combine with Washington H. Soul Pattinson, a larger rival, in a deal announced on Tuesday to create a listed portfolio that will trail only Magellan’s mammoth global equity vehicle in size on the local sharemarket.