Horizon Towers deal in limbo as sales committee quits

(SINGAPORE) The majority sellers of Horizon Towers were supposed to get together last night to resolve a problem, but things ended up being possibly worse.

The sales committee quit last night at the meeting held at Holiday Inn Park View Hotel, and even up to 11pm, no new committee had been formed, BT understands.

The majority sellers who arrived with their lawyers in tow were supposed to decide how to respond to a lawsuit which they face brought by Hotel Property Ltd (HPL), Morgan Stanley Real Estate managed funds and Qatar Investment Authority after the en bloc sale of their Leonie Hill property fell through last month.

The Strata Titles Board (STB) refused to grant a collective sale order, saying that Horizon Towers had filed a defective application. HPL and its partners are suing the majority sellers for failing to file a proper application.

HPL and its partners in February signed a deal with 84 per cent of the owners of Horizon Towers to buy the property en bloc for $500 million, for redevelopment. There have been media reports that some sellers regretted their decision to sell at that price when neighbouring developments later sold for twice as much per square foot.

Last night’s meeting plunged into limbo when the sales committee quit. Sellers who appeared at the meeting said volunteers were being asked to serve on a new sales committee, and that two men stepped forward on condition they would be granted blanket immunity from legal proceedings.

However, they did not get their condition, and no conclusion was reached.

BT understands that by the time the meeting started, there were only three people left on the committee as the other members had quit in the past weeks. This fails to meet the quorum needed of five people on the committee.

Throughout the meeting that started at 8pm and was scheduled to end by 11:59pm yesterday, groups of people and individuals were seen leaving the ballroom at different times to discuss and to smoke.

The meeting was tightly monitored by about six security officers who made sure only majority sellers were allowed into the ballroom. Applause interspersed with cheering was heard at different intervals of the meeting.

The majority owners whom BT spoke to estimated there were more than a hundred people who turned up.

They had a mixed response regarding the outcome. One man seemed upset that the sales committee had quit and said: ‘I don’t know what’s going to happen now. Who cares?’ Another seemed pessimistic about the chances of another committee being formed: ‘Who would want to be on the sales committee now with the threats of legal suits?’

At press time, the meeting was still going on, BT understands.

 

Source: Business Times 8 Sept 07

Wing Tai leads 800m yuan development in Chengdu

Consortium to carry out 900,000 sq ft project due for completion in 2011

A CONSORTIUM led by Wing Tai Holdings will develop an 800 million yuan (S$161.1 million) real estate project in Chengdu, China.

Under a memorandum of understanding that Wing Tai signed yesterday with China’s Chengdu Jinli Group, the consortium will own ‘more than 60 per cent’ of the joint venture, which means its investment will be at least 480 million yuan.

The project, in Chengdu’s city centre, will have a gross floor area of about 900,000 sq ft. It will comprise hotel/ serviced apartment, residential, office and retail space.

This is the consortium’s first move to create a real estate development and investment platform in China after it was set up earlier this year.

Wing Tai said in May that it would lead a multinational consortium to invest in and develop about US$1 billion of real estate in China.

The company entered into a strategic relationship with Germany’s SEB Immobilien-Investment, Forum Partners of the US and Israel’s Eilam Group.

The consortium said then that it would inject a total of US$450 million into the venture.

Wing Tai said that it will lead the consortium in identifying business opportunities and managing the venture and its assets.

It also said that the venture with the three investors is in line with its strategy to embark on a pan-Asian drive to increase its overseas earnings.

The consortium is now looking at other Chinese cities to expand into. The Chengdu project is expected to be completed in four years.

‘I am confident that we will successfully develop a premier real estate model that will serve and benefit Chengdu in its rapid economic development and growth as one of China’s leading cities,’ said Wing Tai chairman Cheng Wai Keung.

Wing Tai’s shares closed six cents higher at $3.36 yesterday. The stock has climbed 47.4 per cent this year.

 

Source: Business Times 8 Sept 07

Home shopping scales new heights

Two new stores widen consumers’ choices in picking the finest for their personal and office spaces as well as travels

FROM fashion, WingTai Asia Group subsidiary Wing Tai Branded Lifestyle has expanded into a retail segment that one would have expected it to move into much earlier.

As a leading Singaporean property developer, one would have thought that Wing Tai’s retail arm might have added furniture and home decor stores to its retail offerings long ago.

But better late than never, as they say. And now that Wing Tai Branded Lifestyle has stepped into this space, it’s not pulling any punches.

Zone Singapore is a one-stop store for home, bathroom, kitchen and office ware – the first franchise store in Asia for a Danish brand founded by Poul Jepsen.

Making its debut at Raffles City, the 2,500 sq ft store is set up to furnish all areas and rooms of a house. The 2,000-plus products are categorised into PersonalZone (bath accessories), LivingZone (living area), FoodZone (kitchen) and WorkZone (office).

Zone has teams of designers in Denmark, Hong Kong and China that conceptualise Scandinavian-style products.

The focus is on classic functionality and quality, says Mr Jepsen, who was in Singapore for the launch of the Raffles City store this week. ‘But we also want to reach out to the younger crowd, so there’s a variety of new materials used, like rubber and silicone.’

Mr Jepsen founded the brand in 1991, having grown up as part of a family with a homeware business.

Helen Khoo, executive director of Wing Tai Branded Lifestyle, says that Zone is an extension of the group’s lifestyle activities. ‘Shopping for the home has also become like buying fashion. Home furnishing is an expression of the owner’s personality. We had to look for the right partner to bring in – and Zone was just what we were looking for.’

Zone is run on a franchise basis, a proven and systematic retail model. ‘We’re not wasting a lot of time and effort reinventing the wheel,’ says Ms Khoo. ‘We just need to understand local consumers’ needs.’

Zone is distributed in the United States and some European countries and has standalone stores in Cyprus, Greece, Sweden, Bahrain, Dubai, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and Hong Kong.

The company aims to have 100 stores by 2011.

In Singapore, Wing Tai Branded Lifestyle plans to set up three to five stores over the next two years, plus at least one in Kuala Lumpur by next year.

With products ranging from a slim satin-steel sugar dispenser at $12.50 to a saucepan with lid at $702 and a sevencm satin-steel York candlestick holder at $22 to a coconut designer vase at $162 as well as cotton washcloths at $8.50 to five-litre stainless steel pedal bins at $192, Zone is pretty much the equivalent of a high street fashion brand for homeware.

‘The choice of Zone as a partner reflects WingTai’s retail outlook,’ says Ms Khoo.

‘We started with mass brands that are affordable and accessible, like G2000, before we moved up the market to UK high street brands. Now, we’re concentrating on the mid to mid-high range of brands. We’re moving in sync with our property arm,’ which is now building luxury properties.

Mr Jepsen chose Wing Tai Branded Lifestyle as its local partner because of its retail experience.

‘We also prefer to partner with fashion retailers because they understand the way we display our products,’ he says.

‘Like fashion, we’ll have new products in the shop every month to create the demand among consumers.’

Zone is located at Raffles City, #03-25.

 

Source: Business Times 8 Sept 07

HK not hit by sub-prime woes: central bank

(HONG KONG) Information provided by locally incorporated banks indicates that their aggregate exposure to the US sub-prime mortgage market will not have systemic implications for Hong Kong’s banking sector, according to Hong Kong Monetary Authority chief executive Joseph Yam.

In his weekly Viewpoint column published on the Hong Kong central bank’s website on Thursday, Mr Yam said, however, that banks and other market participants should watch for risks and uncertainties.

‘Thanks in part to comparatively slower development of the credit derivatives market in Hong Kong, the risk arising from exposure to securities and credit derivatives with a sub-prime component is closely monitored by banks in Hong Kong,’ he said.

‘While some in the market are hoping for more government intervention in the form of interest-rate cuts or government-sponsored entities buying more mortgage-backed securities to keep the market going, others are projecting that the US mortgage credit quality will weaken further in the second half of 2007 or even well into 2008 as more sub-prime adjustable-rate mortgages reset to higher floating rates.’

He said the outcome of the sub-prime mortgage problem and its effect on the global economy are still unpredictable, and market participants should watch developments closely.

 

Source: Xinhua (Business Times 8 Sept 07)

Still no decision by Horizon Towers sellers as deadline looms

HORIZON Towers sellers met last night to discuss their next step in the face of a huge lawsuit from the developer which wants to buy the estate for $500 million.

The meeting ended late at night, with no decision made. The last three members of the sale committee resigned, after four other members resigned over the past week.

As next Tuesday’s deadline given by the would-be buyers looms, a range of sellers expressed their opinions on what step to take next.

One of the issues raised at the meeting was the need for more sale committee members.

The sellers’ meeting, held at the Holiday Inn Parkview, started half an hour late at 8.30pm. It was the second major meeting held after the developer sued 255 sellers for failing to go through with the deal.

Hotel Properties (HPL), Morgan Stanley Real Estate-managed funds and Qatar Investment Authority have been trying to buy Horizon Towers collectively for $500 million, a price inked in February.

But the sale hit a snag about a month back when the Strata Titles Board threw out the estate’s sale application because of a technical error over paperwork.

On Thursday, the buyers filed an affidavit in the High Court, which was served on some of the sale committee members yesterday morning. It claimed that some members had tried to scupper the collective sale by trying to get other majority owners to go back on their agreement to sell the property.

In mid-week, the buyers had sent a letter to all the sellers on a ‘without prejudice’ basis – delivered to their mailbox.

In the letter, they explained the situation they are in and urged the sellers to extend the sale deadline by four months to Dec 11.

The Horizon Towers sale application could be refiled if not for the Aug 11 deadline in the contract.

The buyers now allege the sellers did not do their utmost to get the collective sale order from STB.

‘There’s an obligation in law for them to use their best endeavours,’ said a lawyer. ‘Their best bet is therefore to reapply.’

If the sellers do not, they can fight the suit.

 

Source: The Straits Times 8 Sept 07