Judge gives green light for S$810 million Thomson View en bloc sale

Source: Business Times
Article Date: 02 Jul 2025
Author: Jessie Lim

The condominium's collective sale was met with a stop order in March, after efforts to address objections from a small group of owners were unsuccessful.

The High Court has granted a sale order for Thomson View’s S$810 million collective sale on Tuesday (Jul 1), allowing the sale to proceed after it was disrupted by a stop order in March due to objections from a small group of owners.

In a packed courtroom, Justice Audrey Lim said: “Having considered the further affidavit of the respondents and there are no objections by the subsidiary proprietors, I will grant the application.”

Justice Lim’s statement on Tuesday comes after the case took an unexpected twist in May, when the judge pointed out during a court hearing that some of the signatures needed for the deal to proceed had been obtained outside a mandated 12-month period.

Thomson View is the largest en bloc deal done in Singapore since Chuan Park’s S$890 million sale in May 2023.

Owners stand to receive between S$2.2 million and S$4.9 million each, depending on the size of their units, which range from 122 to 357 sq m, marketing agent ETC said.

Thomson View, located on Bright Hill Road, was put up for tender in February 2024, but did not close a sale when it ended in September. The condominium houses 200 apartments, 54 townhouses and a shop unit.

In March 2025, the condominium’s collective sale was met with a stop order after efforts to mediate and resolve objections from a small group of owners were unsuccessful.

All six of the objectors have since withdrawn their objections.

The Business Times understands that some of the objections were related to the reserve price for the sale of the property, which was lowered by 12 per cent from S$918 million to S$808 million around October 2024.

The reduction of the reserve price, set out in a supplementary agreement, allowed the owners to accept the S$810 million offer from developers UOL, Singapore Land and CapitaLand Development (CLD).

When the case subsequently went to court in May 2025, Justice Lim pointed out that 206 signatures in favour of the collective sale appeared to have been obtained outside the 12-month period that the collective sale committee was given to secure 80 per cent of unitholders’ signatures.

Justice Lim had asked Hui Choon Wai, a partner at law firm Wee Swee Teow, which was representing the collective sale committee, to file another affidavit to explain how the collective sale agreement (CSA) and supplementary agreement differed, and why 210 unitholders signed the CSA, but only 206 signed the supplementary one.

The further affidavit was filed within three weeks of May 2025.

In response to queries from BT, Wee Swee Teow real estate partner Alan Tan said: “There is no doubt that we obtained the requisite 80 per cent during the permitted time of 12 months commencing from the first signature of the CSA.”

Tan noted that owners for 210 units signed the CSA during the permitted time. After the permitted time, owners of 206 units signed a supplemental agreement.

During the collective sale process, some owners also sold their units in the open market to new buyers who signed the CSA and the supplementary agreement.

BT understands some of these signatures were collected after the 12-month period ended on Jan 7, 2024.

“This is one of two reasons why the CSA appears to have signatures out of the permitted time, since we had exhibited all signature pages for transparency,” Tan said.

“The other reason being that there are some owners subsequently who supported the collective sale after the permitted time period, particularly when a purchaser was found. They were then made to sign both the collective sale agreement and supplemental agreement.”

On Jul 1, Justice Lim awarded the collective sale committee costs of S$5,000 and a disbursement of S$3,829.20. The costs will be borne by the six objectors.

CLD and UOL said on Tuesday: “We are pleased to expand our joint venture portfolio with this strategic acquisition. The progress of this sale puts us on track to leverage our combined expertise to rejuvenate and contribute to the vibrancy of this prime estate.”

ETC head of investment advisory Swee Shou Fern said: “The collective sale journey is rarely linear, but ETC is proud to have guided the owners through the challenges with clarity and conviction.”

The final price tag of S$810 million works out to S$1,178 per square foot per plot ratio for the 5-hectare site, which UOL, SingLand and CLD plan to redevelop into a 1,240-unit project.