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Sep 25, 2007

HPL to ask to adjourn Horizon Towers hearing on Thursday

Decision follows official confirmation of extension of sale deadline to Dec 11

By Joyce Teo, Property Correspondent

THE move by the Horizon Towers sellers to extend the sale deadline of their estate has succeeded in fending off Thursday's High Court hearing.

Hotel Properties (HPL) said yesterday that it will apply to have the hearing adjourned. This came after it received official confirmation of the extension from the condominium's sale committee.

Law firm Tan, Rajah & Cheah informed HPL that the estate's new committee had extended the time for obtaining a collective sale order to Dec 11. The seven-member committee represents owners of 177 units. These are the majority owners who have signed the agreement to sell en bloc.

HPL and its two partners, the intended buyers of the Horizon Towers, are suing the sellers of the 99-year leasehold estate for an alleged breach of contract.

The sale committee, the third at the Leonie Hill estate since the saga began a few months ago, was formed last Thursday. That was when almost all who were at a meeting voted to extend the deadline to Dec 11. Sellers of 135 units - out of 177 units which signed the sale agreement - attended.

This option to extend by four months was part of the original sale agreement. The owners also agreed to do everything 'reasonably necessary' to effect the sale.

Those owners who organised the meeting were believed to have stated in a circular that absent owners were deemed to have agreed with the majority decision made at the meeting.

All eyes will now be on another legal front - Friday's High Court hearing over the sellers' appeal to quash the Strata Titles Board (STB) ruling last month that aborted the collective sale deal.

STB dismissed the Horizon Towers case over a procedural error and not over any arguments put up by a group of owners opposed to the sale. That deal lapsed as the sellers did not extend the Aug 11 deadline.

Last Friday, the HPL-led consortium filed an affidavit asking that it be allowed to participate in Friday's appeal, claiming that the issues would be more effectively adjudicated with its involvement. A decision will be made on Friday.

If the appeal succeeds, the case could go back to the STB. But a negative verdict could end the Horizon Towers deal once and for all.

If it goes back to the STB, the minority owners who object to the sale will resurface issues such as the contract's apparently low price and the unusual fact that the commission for the estate's marketing agent will be paid by the buyers, not the sellers.

HPL said earlier that it will drop its lawsuit if a collective sale order is obtained. Its group wants Horizon Towers for $500 million, the price inked in February.

joyceteo@sph.com.sg