Activist funds scupper Singapore firm's merger in rare victory

"This is the first time in the 18-year history of Singapore Exchange's REIT market that a proposed merger has been voted down," Quarz Capital and Black Crane said in a statement.

SINGAPORE: Investors in a Singapore real estate investment trust (REIT) voted down a merger with a larger rival on Friday, in a rare win for shareholder activism in the city-state dominated by retail investors.

Sabana REIT, which was under pressure from Quarz Capital and Black Crane Capital over a planned merger with ESR-REIT, said shareholders rejected a proposal to amend its trust deed, thus, terminating the merger.