QUARZ Capital has just declared war on ESR Group – that was the reaction of an old hand in Singapore’s real estate investment trust (Reit) sector to news this past week that the activist investor has requisitioned an extraordinary general meeting (EGM) to internalise the manager of Sabana Industrial Reit.

If the resolutions Quarz wants to put forward at the EGM are passed, the current manager of Sabana Reit – a company called Sabana Real Estate Investment Management, which is ultimately owned by Hong Kong-listed ESR Group – will stop receiving fee income from the Reit.

In its place, the Reit’s trustee will set up a separate company and appoint it to act as the Reit’s new manager.