Nanofilm founder’s wife pays $128.8 mil or record $4,005 psf for Nassim Road GCB
By Cecilia Chow
/ EdgeProp Singapore |
SINGAPORE (EDGEPROP) - Jin Xiao Qun, wife of founder and executive chairman of Nanofilm Technologies International, Dr Shi Xu, is the new owner of a Good Class Bungalow (GCB) at Singapore’s most coveted address, Nassim Road.
The GCB, which sits on a freehold land area of 32,160 sq ft, changed hands for an auspicious-sounding $128,800,800, according to an Inlis property title search. That translates to $4,005 psf, which smashes the $3,311 psf recorded in 2019 when British billionaire James Dyson paid $50 million for a brand new GCB on a smaller site of 15,101 sq ft on Cluny Road.
“This is one of the best plots on Nassim Road, and it’s a fair price,” says KH Tan, managing director of Newsman Realty, who focuses on luxury bungalow sales.
Nanofilm Technologies was listed on the Singapore Exchange last October and has a market capitalisation of about $3.3 billion today. Shi controls a stake of around 55% in the company, which includes both his direct holdings and deemed interests with his wife. At this level, the couple's stake in the company is valued at around $1.83 billion. The price of the GCB at $128.8 million, is equivalent to 7% of the value of their shares in the listed company. Following the listing of Nanofilm, Shi, a former professor at the Nanyang Technological University, vaulted into the billionaire league.
Executive chairman of Nanofilm Technologies International, Dr Shi Xu (pictured) and his wife, Jin Xiao Qun, together hold a 55% stake in the company, that was listed on the Singapore Exchange last October (Photo: Nanofilm Technologies International)
The seller of the Nassim Road GCB is businesswoman Oei Siu Hoa or Sukmawati Widjaja, the younger sister of billionaire businessman Oei Hong Leong. Widjaja owns the neighbouring GCB on Nassim Road too, which is on a larger freehold plot of 39,383 sq ft. She had paid $25.5 million ($647 psf) for the site back in 2003 and it was her primary residence.
According to sources, the buyer has more than matched Widjaja’s asking price of $4,000 psf for the GCB. This latest transaction is likely to set a new ripple through the GCB market.
“I’m not surprised to hear that it’s sold,” says William Wong, founder and managing director of Realstar Premier, a specialist in landed property sales. “There are more buyers than sellers in the Nassim area as it’s the most prized address in Singapore.”
The GCB that Jin has just purchased is down the road from the one that Cheng Wai Keung, chairman of Singapore-listed Wing Tai Holdings, sold for $230 million two years ago. That transaction still holds the record for highest absolute price for a GCB. The freehold elevated site with sprawling grounds of 84,544 sq ft, was purchased by a trust, SG Casa.
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