Viz Branz CEO Ben Chng buys Swettenham Close GCB for $48 million
By Timothy Tay
/ EdgeProp Singapore |
SINGAPORE (EDGEPROP) - Ben Chng, the CEO of local instant beverage maker Viz Branz, has purchased a Good Class Bungalow at Swettenham Close for $48 million, based on a property title search on INLIS. The price of the relatively new bungalow, sitting on a freehold land area of 16,598 sq ft, translates to $2,893 psf. According to market sources, the deal was brokered by KH Tan, managing director of Newsman Realty.
In terms of price psf, it is the highest since 2019, when billionaire James Dyson, the richest man in the UK, paid $50 million ($3,311 psf) for a new GCB at Cluny Road designed by Guz Wilkinson of Singapore- based Guz Architects.
The GCB at Swettenham Close had been discreetly placed on the market for $50 million a year ago.
The GCB is located at the end of a cul-de-sac on Swettenham Close. “This house is probably at the furthest point along Swettenham Road and it commands sweeping views of the surrounding GCB estate,” says Bruce Lye, managing partner of SRI.
The $48 million sale of the relatively new GCB at Swettenham Close translates to $2,893 psf on the land area. (Picture: Samuel Isaac Chua/The Edge Singapore)
This GCB area is a short drive to the Botanic Gardens, an attribute that appeals to many GCB homeowners and buyers, says Lye. Incidentally, SRI closed the sale of another GCB nearby, located at Pierce Hill. The GCB fetched $28.8 million ($1,668 psf) on Feb 2, 2021.
The price achieved for the GCB at Swettenham Close is likely to have set a new benchmark for the estate. “It could cause an upward shift in the asking price of the GCBs that are still on the market today,” reckons Lye.
Bloomberg reported in November 2020 that Chng sold a majority stake in Viz Branz to Bahrain-based investment firm Investcorp Holdings. The private equity and alternative asset manager is the biggest private equity company in the Middle East, and the deal valued the company at up to $500 million at the time, according to the Bloomberg report.
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