Galven Tan leaves Savills to join Knight Frank Singapore as new CEO

/ EdgeProp Singapore |

November 7, 2023 3:55 PM SGT

Galven Tan (Photo: Samuel Isaac Chua/EdgeProp Singapore)

On Nov 7, Savills Singapore announced that Galven Tan, deputy managing director of investment sales and capital markets, will be leaving the firm with immediate effect.

"It is with deep regret that we see Galven leave," Marcus Loo, Savills Singapore CEO, commented. "Despite a tough COVID period, the team led by Jeremy Lake and Galven had delivered significantly to the firm's performance. I would like to thank him for his contribution to Savills in our journey to become a market leader in the investment agency business."

Commenting on his departure from Savills, Tan said, "I have thoroughly enjoyed my time at Savills and whilst regretful, I have decided to move on to a leadership role at another property consultancy firm."

Tan will be joining Knight Frank Singapore as the new CEO of Knight Frank Singapore from next February.

The top position at Knight Frank Singapore has been vacant since Wendy Tang left the company on June 2, 2022. Tang had been group managing director of Knight Frank Singapore since April 2019, before her exit. Knight Frank said the company would begin "a recruitment process to appoint a new group managing director shortly" when announcing Tang’s departure. That was 17 months ago.

Tan joined Savills in November 2019 with Jeremy Lake and two other colleagues from CBRE's investment team, Yap Hui Yee and Sophia Lim.

Lake was the former head of investment at CBRE for 28 years before he joined Savills in November 2019 as managing director of investment sales and capital markets.

Tan spent 15 years at CBRE, where he was last executive director of capital markets before he joined Savills.

At Savills, Tan was involved in deals such as the collective sale of Tanglin Shopping Centre for $868 million to the Tanoto family's Singapore-based property development and investment firm, Pacific Eagle Real Estate in February 2022.

Tan was also instrumental in the en bloc sale of the former Flynn Park condo in Pasir Panjang to the joint venture between Hoi Hup Realty and Sunway Developments for $371 million in September 2021. The site was launched this year as the 270-unit, freehold Terra Hill in Pasir Panjang, launched in February.

He also brokered the sale of the Thiam Siew Avenue sites to Hoi Hup and Sunway joint venture for $815 million in November 2021. The developers had to pay a further development charge of $284 million. The two sites have since been launched as the 816-unit, freehold The Continuum in prime District 15.

Tan was also behind the sale of the four strata-titled office levels at Solitaire on Cecil. Besides a unit on the seventh floor for $50.483 million ($4,050 psf), he also brokered the sale of the units on levels 17, 18 and 20 for $162.8 million ($4,300 psf) to a single buyer in April this year.

"During my time at Savills, the team had transacted several high-profile deals of which I am very proud, and I am leaving the team in good shape," he commented.

Savills' Lake said in a statement: "We remain totally committed to our clients, and the team remains very busy working on a number of active projects, with some key collective sales assignments on Orchard Road worth in excess of $1.3 billion launching imminently."

Lake adds: "We are fortunate to have considerable bench strength and many of my colleagues, especially Hui Yee and Sophia who have grown more proficient in the industry and have the ability to thrive in the space that Galven leaves behind."

Danny Yeo, executive chairman of Knight Frank, remarked in a press release that "there are great investment opportunities in the market for institutional investors and property funds, as well as a steady flow of private wealth and family offices seeking a safe haven in Singapore". All these present growth opportunities, he adds. "I am confident that Galven’s extensive industry experience and knowledge, stellar track record in investment sales and capital markets, and proven leadership capabilities will help Knight Frank to harness these opportunities."

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