Dasin Retail Trust lender says internalisation of trustee-manager could delay debt restructuring

Minority investors tout the internalisation as cost-saving which could push distributions higher.

One of the lenders of Dasin Retail Trust has raised concerns over potential delays in its debt restructuring if they proceed with the requisition to internalise its trustee-manager, according to a regulatory filing on 4 December.

An onshore lender has “expressed concern that the restructuring may be further protracted” should the proposed internationalisation go through, the trustee-manager said in its latest update.

The trustee-manager reiterated that the “requisition notice will be considered in full by the board after the unitholding of the requisitionists and the validity of the requisition notice has been verified and confirmed.”

Last month, a group of minority shareholders holding more than 10% of the units in the trust asked to convene an extraordinary general meeting to vote on their proposal to remove the incumbent external trustee-manager, Dasin Retail Trust Management. It will then be replaced with a newly set-up internal trustee-manager, which will be beneficially owned by the unitholders from time to time.

The internalisation is expected to eventually reduce costs since there will no longer be any incentive to maximise management fees, which could lead to higher distributions for the unitholders.

In the 4 December filing, Dasin Retail Trust’s manager also gave lenders an update on its ongoing restructuring efforts, including the pre-approval it secured from the trust’s single largest controlling unitholder, Zhang Zhencheng, regarding the sale of retail malls.

Lenders had considered these pre-approvals as a deal-breaker in the debt restructuring. JLL, one of the appointed agents to market the properties, said “few potential investors” have shown interest in the properties.

Follow the link for more news on

Dasin Retail Trust

S-REIT

If you've been wondering whether SBR could work for your company — yes, probably.

A lot of the companies we partner with started as readers. They'd been following our coverage for a while, saw their own customers and competitors in it, and eventually asked the obvious question: could we do something with you? The answer is usually yes. The shape of it depends on what you're trying to do.

The options are broader than most people assume — thought leadership articles, sponsored content, industry summits across Southeast Asia, regional awards programmes, podcasts, and media placements in print and digital. Some partners use one channel; most use a mix. We figure out the right combination by starting with your brief, not with our rate card.

So if the question has been on your mind, here's the easy way to ask it.

We'll tell you honestly whether we can help, and how. It's a better use of everyone's time.

Book a meeting

| Or download the media kit (PDF)

240,000 senior readers quarterly in print Top 1,700 Singapore companies reached

7 markets across Southeast Asia