THE manager of Sabana Industrial Real Estate Investment Trust (Sabana Reit) announced on Thursday (Feb 1) that it would convene the extraordinary general meeting (EGM) requisitioned by a group of activist investors.

The group of unitholders, who call themselves the Sabana Growth Internalisation Committee (SGIC), are led by activist investor Quarz Capital.

The committee had sought in December to convene an EGM to pass 12 resolutions to direct the Reit’s trustee on the internalisation of the Reit manager.

This came after Quarz Capital requisitioned a separate EGM last June to pass two resolutions: to remove Sabana Reit’s manager, and to direct the trustee to internalise the Reit’s management function.

The unitholders voted in favour of both resolutions in August last year, and the trustee has been working on steps to implement them.

The manager said in a statement on Jan 8 that it would not convene the EGM as the requisition notice did not comply with the requirements of the trust deed. But it said it would consider any requisition notice that was properly submitted.

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Following this, the group of unitholders submitted another requisition notice on Jan 11.

In its statement on Thursday evening, the Reit’s manager said it is convening the EGM in accordance with its duty to do so under the trust deed.

Details of the EGM – including the date, time and venue – will be announced separately in due course.

Earlier this week, Sabana Reit’s trustee issued a statement saying that it rejects SGIC’s suggestions that it has committed wrongdoing or delayed the internalisation of the Reit’s management function.

The trustee, HSBC Institutional Trust Services, was responding to a letter it received from the requisitioning unitholders on Jan 29. Among other things, SGIC had said that it should be allowed to hold the requisitioned EGM as part of the internal democratic process of the Reit.

Units of Sabana Reit ended the day at S$0.37, down S$0.005 or 1.3 per cent.