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[SINGAPORE] The S$810 million collective sale for Thomson View Condominium has been met with a stop order, The Business Times learnt. 

The directive to stop the sale of the condo was issued on Mar 19, a spokesperson for the Strata Titles Board told BT. The order was issued after efforts to mediate and resolve objections raised to the sale were unsuccessful. 

Thomson View was acquired in an en bloc sale by UOL, Singapore Land (SingLand) and CapitaLand Development (CLD) in November 2024 for S$810 million, sealing the deal at an offer that was 12 per cent lower than the condo owners’ original reserve price of S$918 million. ETC brokered the deal.

The developers had signed a conditional call-and-put option the month before to acquire the 99-year leasehold development. The deal hinged on consent from at least 80 per cent of owners to lower their reserve price, so that they could accept the offer.  

The final price tag of S$810 million works out to S$1,178 per square foot per plot ratio for the five-hectare site, which UOL, SingLand and CLD plan to redevelop into a 1,240-unit project. Thomson View now houses 200 apartments, 54 townhouses and a shop unit. 

Subsequently, objections were raised to the Strata Titles Board by a small group of owners. It is unclear on what grounds they objected to the sale, but common objections include financial loss or if unitholders believe that the collective sale did not take place in good faith. 

With the objections unresolved after attempts at mediation, the collective sale committee has applied to the High Court to seek approval for the sale. A hearing is expected to take place on May 22 to determine whether the sale can go ahead.

Lawyers Hui Choon Wai, Alan Tan, Yang Huichun and Luke Chew from Wee Swee Teow are acting on behalf of the collective sale committee (CSC) for Thomson View. 

Based on court documents, six owners were named as respondents in the court action.

In response to BT’s queries, UOL and CLD declined to comment as the matter is currently undergoing en bloc proceedings. 

The sale of Thomson View would have been the largest en bloc deal done in Singapore since Chuan Park’s S$890 million sale in May 2023. 

The collective sale of Chuan Park, a 444-unit condo acquired by Kingsford Group, was similarly taken to the High Court after a stop order was issued in December 2022.

Six minority owners objected to the sale, claiming that the deal was not done in good faith. They alleged that the condominium’s CSC and marketing agent ERA Realty did not disclose material facts relating to a higher development baseline for the condominium, which resulted in a “deep discount” for the buyers. 

A High Court judge granted the sale after he found no evidence to suggest why Chuan Park’s plot ratio should have been higher. He also said there was “no merit” to the defendants’ submission that the committee was “not conscientious or prudent”.

Kingsford Group launched the new Chuan Park project in November 2024, and sold 76 per cent of its 916 units at an average price of S$2,579 psf over its launch weekend.

Thomson View has been in the spotlight before for its previous collective sale attempts. 

In 2013, the High Court halted a S$590 million collective sale after it found that then marketing agent HSR International Realtors offered incentive payments to four owners to get them to sign the sale agreement.

In 2018, owners failed four times to launch a collective sale as they did not receive the requisite 80 per cent approval needed to kickstart the process.