SINGAPORE (THE BUSINESS TIMES) - The extraordinary general meetings (EGMs) of ESR-Reit and Sabana Shari'ah Compliant Industrial Real Estate Investment Trust (Sabana Reit) for their proposed merger is expected to fall on Dec 4.

Sabana Reit's scheme meeting will also be held on the same day, the managers of both Reits said in a joint statement on Wednesday (Nov 4).

The meetings will take place after ESR-Reit's circular and Sabana Reit's scheme document have been issued on a date estimated to be Nov 12. Meanwhile, the second court hearing for the approval of Sabana Reit's scheme is expected to fall on Dec 21.

The Securities Investors Association (Singapore) or Sias will also organise dialogue sessions with unitholders before the two EGMs and scheme meeting and after the issue of the ESR-Reit circular and Sabana Reit scheme document.

The dialogue sessions will take place via live webcast and allow both retail and institutional investors to pose questions and seek clarification on the proposed merger. Once confirmed, ESR-Reit and Sabana Reit unitholders will receive invitations to their respective sessions.

ESR-Reit's manager said in a separate announcement that it has received approval in-principle from the Singapore Exchange (SGX) on Tuesday for the listing and quotation of about 989.9 million new units with respect to the proposed merger.

The in-principle approval is subject to compliance with SGX's listing requirements, ESR-Reit unitholder approval for the merger and the issue of the new units, as well as approval from the Singapore High Court for the implementation of Sabana Reit's scheme.

SGX's approval in-principle is not to be taken as an indication of the merits of the merger, the consideration units, ESR-Reit and/or its subsidiaries, the manager said.

As at the midday trading break, ESR-Reit units were up 1.4 per cent or 0.5 cent to 36.5 cents, while Sabana Reit units were down 1.4 per cent or 0.5 cent to 34.5 cents.