Horizon Towers condominium, a High Court bid by minority owners

IN YET another twist to the controversy over the collective sale of the Horizon Towers condominium, a High Court bid by minority owners for more time to present their case to the Strata Titles Board has failed.
The minority owners, who object to the sale, wanted a judicial review of the board's decision not to postpone a hearing.

They will now have to present their case next week instead of in September as they had wanted.


The $500 million deal for the two blocks at Leonie Hill, which was struck on Feb 12, has to be finalised by Aug 11. If the High Court had ruled in favour of the minority owners, the deal would have been effectively scuttled.

The 99-year leasehold property has been pledged to be sold en bloc to HPL and two others.

The deal was backed by 84 per cent of the owners. This is above the 80 per cent requirement, but it still needs the approval of the Strata Titles Board. Previously, the board set the hearing for September, but later moved it forward.

Through lawyers from Tan Kok Quan Partnership and Harry Elias Partnership, the minority owners sought leave from the High Court for a judicial review of the board's decision to bring the hearing forward.

But according to court documents filed by the purchasers, the deal would have been scuttled if the objectors' request had been granted.

The purchasers, who were represented by Senior Counsel K. Shanmugam, argued that if this happened, the majority owners who consented to the sale would be unlikely to extend the deadline for the en bloc deal.

Both majority and minority owners alike do not want the deal to go ahead at $500 million. This is because a rise in market prices after the agreement was reached means that there is every possibility that they can now sell the property to another buyer at a significantly higher price.

The minority owners argued in their submissions that the board's decision gave them inadequate time to present their case.

But the purchasers countered that the minority owners actually had three months to prepare, citing the lengthy documents the objectors prepared for yesterday's hearing.

The Straits Times understands that during the High Court chamber hearing, the minority owners failed to convince Justice Tan Lee Meng that they had an arguable case which deserved judicial review.