UNITHOLDERS of Sabana Real Estate Investment Trust (Sabana Reit) have set up the Sabana Growth Internalisation Committee (SGIC), following approval of the manager’s removal at an Aug 7 extraordinary general meeting requisitioned by activist investor Quarz.

On Friday (Sep 8), Quarz said the committee will support and work together with the Reit’s trustee to ensure that the internalisation process is successfully completed on time, and within the target budget of S$3 million to S$5 million.

The activist investor has said that the preparatory work to submit the internalisation application to the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), such as company incorporation and human resources, should not take longer than three to four months – or by December 2023.

It emphasised that the trustee should set a “clear target” to complete the internalisation process by Sabana’s annual general meeting in April 2024.

The committee will also set out to champion “best-in-class corporate governance”, under which all unitholders would have the right to vote in, remove, and re-elect directors once the internalisation is completed.

Aside from representing all unitholders who voted for the internalisation, the main roles of the committee include engaging with stakeholders such as the MAS, Sabana’s external manager and banks on internalisation matters.

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It will also provide guidance, inputs and support to the trustee on the implementation plan on behalf of all unitholders who supported the move – while ensuring that the new internal manager is fully independent and acts in the best interests of unitholders.

Quarz invited all Sabana unitholders to join the committee, and noted that more than 50 unitholders have already signed up to do so.

Three types of membership are available for unitholders who wish to join the SGIC, depending on how involved they want to be.

Those who are interested in contributing as active or executive committee members may join as “actively involved members”. “Partially involved members” are those who would attend committee meetings from time to time. Memberships are also available for “passive members”, who want only to be updated on SGIC activities and to attend the committee’s main events.

Involvement is on a voluntary basis, and for unitholders to “safeguard (their) investment and to work to increase the distribution per unit and unit price of Sabana Reit”, said Quarz.

Members of the committee will also decide on how they want to vote individually, rather than as a shareholder group or concert party.

“More than 10,000 Sabana unitholders are now eagerly waiting for HSBC Institutional Trust Services to deliver the newly invigorated, unitholders-owned internal manager in an efficient and transparent manner,” said Quarz.

“With the strong support of the committee and its unitholders, we believe that the trustee will be able to successfully complete the internalisation process as efficiently as possible.”