The long-standing legal drama surrounding the en bloc sale of Horizon Tower has finally come to an end last Friday. In what must be one of Singapore's most protracted collective sale legislation, High Court judge Vinodh Coomararswamy ruled in the favour of the defendants, Mr Arjun Samtani and Mr Tan Kah Gee. Mr Samtani was the chairman of the first sales committee and Mr Tan was a member. The plaintiffs - Mr Then Khek Koon and Mr Rudy Darmawan, and their wivies Jasmise Tan and Widia Seteono respectively, as well as Mr Darmawan's aunt, Maryani Sadeli - sued the two men for unrecovered legal costs incurred during the course of the legal battle to block the collective sale. The plaintiffs received a partial compensation of $354,370.14.when the Court of Appeal ruled in April 2009 to halt the sale. Then the Court of Appeal only accepted some but not all of their submissions on costs. The plaintiffs thus filed a new suit in 2010 to recover the remaining costs - $585,370.01. This time, they sued Mr Samtani and Mr Tan personally for the costs alleging that they 'owed them fiduciary duties in their conduct ' and 'pushed for a quick sale of the property for their personal benefit' as both had bought additional units in Horizon Towers when the en bloc sales began. The collective sale process started in January 2010 when the sales committee of Horizon Towers agreed to sell the property to Hotel Properties Limited (HPL) for S$500 million. Horizon Towers is a 99-year leasehold 210-unit condominium in Leonie Hill in district 9. It was completed in 1994. The plaintiffs – all five - resisted the sales and argued the matter twice to the Strata Titles Board (STB) and twice before the High Court. In the final appeal to the High Court, the judge threw out the appeal and ruled that as long as STB finds that a purchase price is fair, it has fulfilled its duty and is entitled to approve an en bloc sale. Unhappy with this verdict on 15 August 2008, Mr Darmawan, his wife and Ms Sadeli decided to take matters to the Court of Appeals. This time, the court ruled in their favour. In a saga that saw several appeals filed by both sides to the STB, High Court and the Court of Appeals, it concluded with the defendants winning in the final case. High Court judge Vinodh Coomararswamy ruled that Mr Tan and Mr Samtani were not liable to pay for the legal costs as the plaintiffs did not seek an indemnity for their legal costs at the 2009 Court of Appeal when they had an opportunity to do so. The Horizon Tower legal wrangle made history on more than one front. Apart from its lengthiness, the verdict delivered by the Court of Appeals was the first time a Singapore's Supreme Court ruled in favour of minority owners in a collective sale. Additionally the role of STB and the collective sale committee were re-defined. The former is expected to assume a more pro-active role; whereas the latter has to undertake due diligence to ensure the property is sold at the best possible price. In Table 1, we summarise the timeline of events.

Table 1: Timeline of Events

October 2013	High Court dismissed minority owners claim for compensation.
September 2012	The minority owners now want compensation of $585,370.01 for the sums not covered by the Court of Appeals judgement in 2009.Court of Appeals awarded them $354,370.14.
March 2010	The High Court rejected an appeal by Mr Samtani and Mr Tan to block the claim.
January 2010	Minority owners filed a claim against former sales committee chairman Arjun Samtani and member Tan Kah Gee, for costs not covered in the Court of Appeal verdict in April 2009.They seek close to $1 million in legal and administrative costs.
April 2009	Court of Appeals blocked the sale. Its judgment is final.Justice Rajah also ruled that HPL and the estate's majority owners should share the legal costs for the second High Court hearing and the Court of Appeal hearing. The majority owners should bear the costs for the second STB.This is the first time that the Supreme Court has decided in favour of minority owners in a disputed en bloc sale. The landmark ruling also redefined the duties of a sales committee and the Strata Titles Board (STB) when dealing with collective sales.The sales committee is expected to carry out due diligence in investigating all expressions of interest and create competition between interested purchasers, as well as sell at the most propitious time.STB is expected to take a pro-active role in establishing claims made by the relevant parties, and seeking out facts.  Justice Rajah said that the sales committee did not fulfil its duty because it did not secure the best price obtainable for the property.
August 2008	Minority owners appealed to the Court of Appeals.
July 2008	High Court ruled out the appeal, citing that as long as STB finds that a purchase price is fair, it has fulfilled its duty and is entitled to approve an en bloc sale.
January 2008	Minority owners appealed to the High Court.
December 2007	STB approved the sale.
October 2007	The High Court agreed with them and returned the case to the STB on October 11.
Subsequently	Majority owners appealed against STB's decision at the High Court.
August 2007	Strata Titles Board (STB) rejected the sale application, citing a technical error.
Subsequently	Minority owners were against the sale arguing that it was done in bad faith and said that a higher $510 million offer from Hong Kong firm Vineyard Holdings was not taken seriously.
January 2007	The sales committee of Horizon Towers agreed to sell the property to Hotel Properties Limited (HPL) for S$500 million.

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