Sabana REIT's property near Serangoon, New Tech Park. (Photo: REITsWeek)

Sabana REIT has arranged for new Shari’ah-compliant financing facilities totalling up to SGD108 million (USD 80 million) with a number of banks including HSBC, Maybank and UOB Limited.

The facilities include a 3.5-year term commodity murabaha facility of up to SGD90 million that will be used to refinance an existing loan with HSBC and HSBC Amanah, the Islamic banking branch of HSBC in Malaysia.

Commodity murabaha is a Shari’ah-compliant term deposit product with fixed profit rate of returns, with commodities as the underlying asset.

Also included in the facilities is a 3.5-year revolving commodity murabaha facility of up to SGD18 million that will be used to refinance and replace an existing three-year revolving facility, also with HSBC and HSBC Amanah.

Part of the SGD18 million component may also be used towards the REIT’s working capital requirements, including the acquisition of Shari’ah-compliant industrial properties located both within Singapore and outside the country, said the REIT.

A request to utilise SGD90 million from the new facilities has been made on 25 August, said the Singapore-listed industrial REIT in a disclosure filing on the same day.

Sabana REIT is the first, and currently the only Shari’ah-compliant REIT listed in Singapore.

Units of Sabana REIT finished the trading day unchanged from its previous close on the Singapore Exchange at SGD0.52.

By Ridzwan Rahmat

Ridzwan has been analysing REITs and business trusts since 2008, and personally manages a portfolio comprising mainly of SGX-listed REITs. He founded REITsWeek in 2013.