On August 29, HSBC Institutional Trust Services (HSBC Trustee), the trustee of Sabana Industrial REIT, announced that it has appointed FTI Consulting as its professional adviser, and will work with FTI on the "required and necessary steps to be taken to implement the resolutions passed on August 7".
"The Trustee reiterates that its key priority is to act in the best interests of all Unitholders in the implementation of the Resolutions," HSBC Trustee says.
The Trustee will continue "to engage with the Manager on a regular basis and will communicate its expectations of the Manager to ensure the ongoing and stable operations of Sabana REIT".
HSBC Trustee has reiterated that an internalised management structure that does not currently exist will need to be identified, established and then approved by Unitholders; and in view of the complexity and unprecedented nature of the internalisation process and dependencies beyond the control of the Trustee (including legal, regulatory and taxation), it is expected to take at least 12 months to internalise the REIT management function.
This is in contrast to Quarz Capital Asia's own view. Quarz requisitioned an EGM to remove Sabana REIT's manager, Sabana Real Estate Investment Management (SREIM), and to direct the Trustee to internalise the function of the manager, and believes that the entire process can be done in four months.