In what appears to be a low-key about-turn from its former direction, Sabana REIT has confirmed that it will remain a Shari’ah compliant REIT status for now.

This position, which allows the REIT to continue drawing in investors from Shari'ah-compliant funds, was reiterated upon after its bid to merge with ESR-REIT fell through.

In the midst of the merger attempt in July 2020, CEOs of Sabana and ESR-REIT’s manager told REITsWeek then that they would be dropping the Shari’ah-compliant status.

Among the benefits of such a move would be access to conventional debt facilities, which may feature lower costs than Islamic debt facilities.

Related: Singapore loses its sole Shari’ah-compliant REIT with merger between Sabana, ESR-REIT