Finally, the battered Sabana REIT (SGX:M1GU) can hope for a better future as a merger with ESR REIT (SGX:J91U) is pending. Some investors have remarked that Sabana REIT was their worst REIT investment. Look at the stock chart of Sabana REIT and you know why – after hitting a high in 2013, the share price has been on a downhill ever since.

A short history of Sabana REIT

Sabana REIT was unique because it was the first ever Shariah compliant REIT to be listed in Singapore. The IPO was priced at S$1.05 and went public on 26 Nov 2010. Unfortunately, the performance of the underlying properties began to deteriorate and new properties were suspected to be acquired at overvalued prices. Unitholders also saw lower distributions with each passing year. Jerry Low, a stockbroker and an unitholder of Sabana REIT, decided it was enough. He rallied another 65 unitholders to requisition an EGM in 2017. They wanted to remove the manager...