British billionaire Dyson snaps up Singapore's priciest penthouse (updated)

Guocoland

10/07/2019 06:39

* Dyson pays $54.2 mln for luxury penthouse -media
    * Brexit supporter announced move to Singapore in January
    * 3-storey penthouse has 5 bedrooms, pool, private garden

 (Adds details)
    SINGAPORE, July 10 (Reuters) - British billionaire and
inventor of the bagless vacuum cleaner James Dyson has bought
the most expensive apartment in Singapore, where his company
plans to build an electric car. 
    The three-storey "super penthouse" at the top of Singapore's
tallest building sold for S$73.8 million ($54.2 million),
according to media reports. 
    Accessed by its own lift, the downtown apartment once valued
at S$100 million has five bedrooms, a 600-bottle wine cellar,
pool, jacuzzi, and a private garden with city views that include
the Marina Bay Sands hotel, marketing documents show. 
    Dyson, 72 and a Brexit supporter, announced plans in January
to move his company's head office from Britain to Singapore to
be closer to its fastest-growing markets. 
    His firm - whose products include bladeless fans, air
purifiers and hair dryers - plans to build its first electric
car in the city-state.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N1ZM5M6
    The Wallich Residence penthouse sits on top of the tallest
building in Singapore - Tanjong Pagar Centre - built by
developer GuocoLand Ltd  GUOC.SI .
    Before its unveiling, the highest asking price for the
"bungalow in the sky" reached a dizzying S$100 million in 2017,
making it Singapore's most expensive. https://reut.rs/30zpWX9
 
    Title records seen by Reuters show Dyson and his wife became
tenants of the 99-year leasehold property on June 20. 
    The records did not state the price paid, but media reported
Dyson, who has been given permanent residence status, bought the
property for S$73.8 million.
    "Given the decision to locate the headquarters in Singapore
and the growing focus of the company's business in the region,
of course James Dyson has bought a property there," a Dyson
spokesman said, without giving further details of the purchase. 
    Dyson is one of Britain's best-known entrepreneurs, creating
a multibillion-dollar company from an insight that a cyclone
could collect household dust better than a clogged-up bag.
    Singapore is an island of well-heeled stability that
attracts the super-rich from its less-developed Southeast Asian
neighbours, as well as millionaires from mainland China. 
    The city intensified property restrictions last year after a
9.1% annual increase in home prices and as developers paid
record amounts to buy land. 
    Foreigners now have to pay levies of more than 20% to buy
property under the new rules, but citizens and permanent
residents pay far lower taxes.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N1U22EE
    "From the onset, the buyer was always going to be a
foreigner," said Leong Boon Hoe of List Sotheby's International
Realty, one of the agencies marketing the penthouse.
    "It's a place to be able to showcase your wealth".
($1 = 1.3623 Singapore dollars)

 (Reporting by Fathin Ungku, John Geddie and Aradhana Aravindan;
Editing by Rashmi Aich and Darren Schuettler)
 ((fathin.ungku@thomsonreuters.com;))