Tulip Garden: Kim Eng’s Ronald Ooi cuts losses on condo deal

He is said to have led group which backed the purchase of Tulip Garden

Kim Eng Holdings managing director Ronald Ooi, in his personal capacity, is believed to have led a group that backed Bravo Building Construction on its failed $516 million purchase of Tulip Garden.

Tulip Garden: The $516m deal failed as the buyer’s request to extend the payment deadline was rejected. The $25.8m deposit was forfeited

BT understands from market sources that Mr Ooi and the group were instrumental in raising the initial $25.8 million or 5 per cent deposit on the Tulip Garden sale which has since been forfeited.

Mr Ooi, who is said to be worth some $300 million, is said to have decided to cut losses on the acquisition in the face of weakening sentiment on the prime property front. ‘It had become more challenging to raise the necessary funds under current market conditions to complete the deal,’ a market watcher said.

Mr Ooi could not be contacted.

The deal, which worked out to $1,018 psf per plot ratio, was inked in July last year when the Singapore property market was enjoying one of its strongest bull runs in recent memory.

The collective sale was approved by Strata Titles Board in February this year.

But last week, lawyers representing Tulip Garden’s owners sent a notice of rescission of the sale and purchase agreement for Tulip Garden to Bravo’s lawyers and notified them that the owners would be forfeiting the 5 per cent of the transaction price paid to them so far as deposit.

This was after Bravo failed to pay the second 5 per cent instalment by the deadline on April 7.

Bravo had requested another extension of this deadline to June 7, as well as to extend the completion date of the transaction (which is when it would have had to pay up the remaining 90 per cent of the purchase price) from May 28 to Aug 7

Tulip Garden owners had a meeting and most decided they wanted to cancel the sale if Bravo missed the payment deadline on April 7.