SINGAPORE (EDGEPROP) - Thomas Henrik Zilliacus, the co-founder of the company once known as YuuZoo Corp, has put his penthouse at The Oceanfront at Sentosa Cove for sale. The asking price is $13 million ($2,678 psf), according to a property listing by Simon Wong, associate vice-president of List Sotheby’s International Realty. Wong however, declined to comment on the sale.

"I have put the penthouse up for sale as my two daughters, who both were born in Singapore and went to school there, have graduated and have moved overseas," says Zilliacus in an email response. "As a result the penthouse is too big for only me and my family. We are looking to buy a smaller apartment once we have found a buyer for the penthouse."

Zilliacus has been a Singapore Permanent Resident since 2003, and "hopes to remain so for the foreseeable future", he says.

The 4,855 sq ft, four-bedroom, triplex penthouse is one of 29 “sky villas” at the 264-unit luxury waterfront condominium located at “the northern gateway to Sentosa Cove”, says a press release in July 2006 when The Oceanfront was first launched by joint developers, listed company City Developments (CDL) and TID (a joint venture between Hong Leong Holdings and Japanese developer Mitsui Fudosan).

There are five 12- to 15-storey blocks at The Oceanfront, and the 14th floor penthouse sits within the tallest of the towers located strategically at the mouth of the marina. Hence, it commands a panoramic view of the One°15 Marina Sentosa Cove and the Serapong Golf Course of the Sentosa Golf Club.

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The penthouse was purchased in September 2006 for $6.53 million ($1,345 psf), according to a caveat lodged with URA Realis. An Inlis search shows that the unit was purchased jointly by Zilliacus and his Japanese wife, Susana Watanabe.

Zilliacus, a Finnish businessman who was a resident in Singapore, is the founder and chairman of Mobile FutureWorks since 2000. In 2008, he co-founded social media and e-commerce company, YuuZoo Corp, which was listed on the Singapore Exchange in September 2014 via a reverse takeover of W Corp for $490 million.

""YuuZoo is only one of many companies that Mobile FutureWorks Inc, a company I alone founded more than 20 years ago, has set up," he explains. "My main focus is and has always been on building and developing Mobile FutureWorks."

YuuZoo’s shares have been suspended since March 19, 2018. The company announced on April 3, 2018, that it was under investigation by the Commercial Affairs Department (CAD) for possible breaches of the Securities and Futures Act. Later that same month, Zilliacus resigned from his post as YuuZoo Corp’s chairman with immediate effect.

The company changed its name from YuuZoo Corp to YuuZoo Networks Group Corporation with effect from August 16, 2018.

In an SGX announcement on Nov 30, 2020, the board of directors of YuuZoo Networks Group said that it has appointed XXI Century Capital “to identify and to present to the company suitable acquisition targets aimed at rebuilding the business of the company and delivering new value to its shareholders”.

As part of a “globally operating group”, XXI Century Capital is “well positioned to find attractive acquisition targets worldwide”, added the statement.

XXI Century Capital is said to be part of Zilliacus’ Mobile FutureWorks Group and the former “has agreed to take on the work on a pure success fee basis”, according to the statement. “The work of XXI Century Capital will thus be of zero cost to YuuZoo unless a successful acquisition is completed,” it said.

Pick up in transactions, prices at Sentosa Cove

At Sentosa Cove, transaction activity and prices have surged this year, especially for penthouses. According to a caveat lodged at the end of September, a 6,060 sq ft penthouse at luxury condo Seven Palms was sold for $19.8 million ($3,267 psf). The buyer is believed to be Kurt Wagner, the owner of Singapore’s first African cafe, Kafe UTU located on Jiak Chuan Road, off Keong Saik Road in Chinatown. (Discover insightful data of any Singapore condominium with our condo directory)

The neighbouring penthouse fetched $19.7 million ($3,251 psf) in early October. According to Inlis search, the buyer is Christer Eriksson, regional managing director, strategy, for Asia Pacific at R/GA, a global digital agency and innovation consultancy headquartered in New York.

The prices achieved for the two penthouses are the highest in both absolute and psf price at Seven Palms Sentosa Cove since 2014, when two adjacent units on the third level (just one floor below the penthouses) were sold for $28.55 million ($4,131 psf) in Nov 2014.

Meanwhile, at The Oceanfront, 32 units have changed hands since January at a median price of $1,546 psf, based on caveats lodged to date. The latest transaction was for a 1,507 sq ft, first floor unit that was sold for $2.37 million ($1,553 psf), based on a caveat lodged on Nov 23.

The highest psf price achieved at The Oceanfront this year was for a ninth-floor unit at block 291, the 15-storey tower, with views of the sea and the marina. The 3,025 sq ft, four-bedroom unit fetched $6.05 million ($2,000 psf) in April. The all-time-high at The Oceanfront was for a 3,025 sq ft, four-bedroom unit on the 12th floor that was sold for $8.6 million ($2,843 psf) at the previous peak in Nov 2010.

Check out the latest listings near The Oceanfront @ Sentosa Cove, Sentosa Cove, Seven Palms

Read also: Unit at The Oceanfront sold at $1.6 mil loss

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