Horizon Towers: bid for judicial review fails

Horizon Towers: bid for judicial review fails

This means the dates of the STB hearing will remain on July27 to Aug2

The minority owners of Horizon Towers, which has been pledged to be sold en bloc for $500 million, have failed in their first step to get judicial review of the Strata Titles Boards’ (STB) decision.

This means that the dates of the STB hearing, at which the board will decide whether or not to approve the en bloc sale, will remain on July27 to Aug2.

The hearing was scheduled for September, but STB decided to bring forward the dates.

The minority owners of the condominium then applied to the High Court seeking leave to apply for judicial review of STB’s decision to bring the hearing forward. Their primary complaint is believed to be that they do not have enough time to prepare their case given the earlier dates.

The timing of the STB hearing is crucial as the $500 million deal must be sealed by Aug11, six months after the signing of the agreement on Feb12.

If the deadline is missed, the deal could fall through as the sellers may refuse to extend the deadline.

However, the court yesterday rejected the minority owners’ application for leave.

Horizon Towers, on Leonie Hill, has been pledged to be sold en bloc for $500 million to Hotel Property (HPL), Morgan Stanley Real Estate and Qatar Investment Authority, the investment arm of the Gulf Arab state of Qatar.

The deal was backed by 84 per cent of the owners - above the 80 per cent requirement - but it still needs approval from the STB.

The buyers are represented by senior counsel KShanmugam and William Ong from Allen & Gledhill.

The minorities are represented by Kannan Ramesh and Karam Parmer from Tan Kok Quan Partnership, and Philip Fong from Harry Elias Partnership.

Source : Business Times - 21 Jul 2007

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