Gillman en bloc sale to proceed
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Published June 26, 2008
Gillman en bloc sale to proceed
Judge says minority owners did not provide adequate reasons to stop sale
By MICHELLE QUAH
THE High Court has dismissed an appeal by minority owners of Gillman Heights Condominium to stop its en bloc sale.
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High rise tussle: Gillman Heights is set to be sold to CapitaLand, Hotel Properties and two private funds
This means that the $548 million sale of the development to CapitaLand, Hotel Properties and two private funds is set to go through.
Justice Choo Han Teck, in his judgment yesterday, said that he was 'satisfied' that the appeal by the minority owners 'must fail', as they did not provide adequate reasons as to why he should stop the sale.
The Strata Titles Board (STB) had approved the collective sale of the 607-unit, 99-year leasehold estate late last year. But a group of minority owners, represented by Senior Counsel Michael Hwang, had appealed that decision.
They argued that the STB had erred in approving the sale. They said that collective sale rules do not apply to Gillman Heights, which is an former HUDC estate. They also argued that insufficient notices were put up informing owners of the proposed sale and that the collective sale agreement - signed by the consenting owners - was not validly extended before the deal was brokered with the CapitaLand consortium.
Justice Choo ruled yesterday that the law does not mean to treat privatised HUDC estates differently from other private strata developments with a management corporation. He said that a privatised HUDC estate can participate in the benefits of an en bloc sale if the requisite conditions are met. He also agreed with the STB's ruling that sufficient notices had been posted and that the collective sale agreement had been validly extended.
The minorities had also argued that the sale was done in bad faith. They said that the National University of Singapore (NUS), which owns a sizeable chunk of Gillman Heights and had agreed to the en bloc sale, has a 15 per cent stake in Ankerite, the entity that purchased Gillman Heights.
Justice Choo noted yesterday that NUS's relationship with the buyer - which came to light after the STB approval - was not presented before the STB at the relevant time. 'A court deliberates only on the basis of the evidence before it,' he said. He said that it was strictly up to the STB to judge if there was an act of bad faith by reason of the relationship between NUS and Ankerite - but that he was not persuaded that the board should hear the issue again.
Justice Choo also agreed with the STB that there was no bad faith regarding the sale price of Gillman Heights, as it was $20 million above the reserve price.
The minorities had also argued that one of the STB board members, Michael Ng of Savills (Singapore), was a real estate valuation professional who had worked on projects involving the consenting owners' lawyers.
But Justice Choo said: 'I am of the view that it is too tenuous an objection. Professionals cannot avoid working on the same projects. It does not follow that they necessarily agree or have reasons to be biased or prejudiced against other professionals.'
Gillman Heights owners will get between $870,000 and $950,000 per unit in the en-bloc sale. But many of those objecting to the sale say that it is more important for them to be able to keep their homes.
High Court dismisses appeal against Gillman Heights sale
http://www.straitstimes.com/Money/St...ry_251829.html
June 26, 2008
High Court dismisses appeal against Gillman Heights sale
By Joyce Teo, Property Correspondent
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MOVING ON: CapitaLand can now proceed to complete its $548 million purchase of the Alexandra Road condo, unless the objecting owners take their case to the Court of Appeal. Yesterday, the High Court rejected all eight objections raised against the collective sale.
THE High Court has dismissed an appeal by owners objecting to the collective sale of Gillman Heights Condominium, which means the $548 million sale can go ahead.
CapitaLand, the lead buyer of the 99-year leasehold Alexandra Road site, can now proceed to complete the deal, provided the objecting owners do not appeal against the High Court's decision.
Yesterday, about three months after the case was heard, Justice Choo Han Teck rejected all eight objections raised by the minority owners.
Among their contentions was a claim that the Strata Titles Board (STB) had made a mistake granting the order approving the sale, as the minimum consent rules did not apply to Gillman Heights, a former HUDC estate.
The judge said the requisite majority consent does apply to privatised estates such as Gillman Heights. For instance, the level of consent required is pegged to the age of the building, rather than the temporary occupation permit or certificate of statutory completion dates - neither of which applies to former HUDC estates.
The owners also objected to the fact that the link between the buyer and the National University of Singapore (NUS) - which owns 303 of the 607 units - was not disclosed to the STB, which approved the sale late last year.
NUS had taken a 15 per cent stake in the buyer Ankerite, whose other shareholders are CapitaLand, Hotel Properties and a private fund, after it agreed to the sale.
Justice Choo said he was not persuaded that the STB should hear the parties again on this issue.
He said there was no bad faith in this case, as the sale price was $20 million above the reserve level. The price works out to $363 per sq ft of potential gross floor area.
A minority owner, who wanted to be known only as Mr Kok, said he was still digesting the decision.
'We will have to discuss among themselves and with our lawyer to see whether we should take the case to the Court of Appeal.'
Yesterday, CapitaLand said it looked forward to developing the site into an 'innovative' residential project with about 1,200 homes.