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29 March 2024

Buyout option for Santevill on table

Published
By Parag Deulgaonkar
Sungwon Corporation, a South Korean property development company, is considering options such as having an investor on board, or a buyout, to help complete the Santevill, a mixed-use development in Business Bay, according to an email sent to an investor.
“We have a strong will to complete this project, but unfortunately we are helpless to do so at the moment. We have to wait till the Suwon Court in South Korea makes a ruling, on which the possible future of the company depends. …we are seeking alternatives that would assist us in completing the project (an investor, or buyout),” Atif Saeed of Sungwon replied in an email to David Vincent.
Saeed, however, refrained from mentioning the capital required for an investor buyout, saying the company was under court receivership and to release any kind of information would be at the discretion of the court.
In another email sent to Hasnain A Lali, the company executive reiterated: “We are exploring all options but our priority is to first take control of Sungwon and get the creditors to vote in our favour so that we may have some autonomy.”
Questions sent to the company remained unanswered till the time of publishing.
Emirates24|7 reported last month that a few developers in Dubai were ready to sell their remaining units at construction cost, just to get the project completed and handed over.
Santevill’s project indicator report on the Real Estate Regulatory Agency website was last updated on March 2009.
In August, investors, who have paid almost 60 to 70 per cent of the money to the developer, told this website there has been no communication from the developer on the project.
“We did try to get in touch with company officials in South Korea, but nothing has been communicated to us. The project is 75 per cent complete… we know for certain that the material for the façade and MEP work is lying there,” Rakesk Bohra, an investor, had said.
Santevill is a Dh400 million 25-storey tower built on an area of 54,000 square feet, and will contain 195 residential units.
The company’s second project, Santeview, a Dh1.5 billion mixed-use tower in Cultural Village, is currently on hold, according to Rera website.
Founded in 1978, Sungwon is a large-scale integrated real estate development, construction and engineering company that employs more than 2,000 staff. The publicly traded firm is listed on the Korean Stock Exchange. In March, Sungwon filed for court receivership to get its management back on track and requested help from the court in rescheduling its debts with creditors.