Palm Oil Pal
Jessica Tan
09.01.08
Stockbroker Peter Lim knows that most investment tips are suspect--unless they come from a man whose last name is Kuok.
In 1991 stockbroker Peter Lim invested $10 million in a palm oil startup. At the time he didn't know much about the commodity. "If you gave me a coconut and a palm oil nut, I wouldn't have been able to differentiate between the two," he recalls.
But he knew a lot about the guy who was starting the company. Kuok Khoon Hong used to be a stockbroking client and had since become his friend. "From the moment I first spoke to him, I thought: 'This man is really very clever. I'd better follow him because he can make a lot of money for me,'" Lim says.
Kuok is also the nephew of Malaysian businessman Robert Kuok, who by then was already one of Asia's most highly regarded billionaires, nicknamed Sugar King for a series of coups in the commodities markets in the 1960s. Before striking out on his own, the younger Kuok had worked for his uncle.
Thanks to his bet on Kuok, Lim, 55, is a billionaire, worth $1.1 billion and ranked No. 7 among Singapore's 40 Richest. Plus he is still an investor in one of Singapore's hottest stocks: the tiny palm oil outfit has become $18 billion (market cap) Wilmar International, one of Asia's largest agribusinesses. It has been on fire lately thanks to rising palm oil prices and its high-profile merger with Robert Kuok's palm plantation, edible oils and grain groups. The stock has more than tripled since its debut on the Singapore exchange in August 2006.
Lim isn't the only one to get rich off Wilmar. The younger Kuok (Wilmar's CEO) is worth $1.3 billion, ranked 5 in Singapore's top 40. His cofounder, Indonesian Martua Sitorus, is worth $1.9 billion. Kuok's uncle added $2.4 billion to his net worth in the past year, thanks largely to Wilmar. But Lim is the luckiest. "Throughout [its] initial stage I never knew what was happening. Everyday I would ask Mr. Kuok what was happening," recalls Lim, "and he would say, 'Don't worry.'"
Now he's happy--and living the high life. He has "many cars," including Ferraris, Porsches and Lamborghinis, which he parks in the basement of an 11-story condominium block he owns not far from Orchard Road. He lives there with his second wife--an actress--his mother and two teenage children. Other luxuries include a yacht and private jet. Lim believes that his fortune is due to destiny. "It's not possible for someone to go make a billion dollars--it's when things just fall into place," he says. "So I think it's fate."
The son of a fishmonger, Lim has come a long way from the small flat he shared with his parents, seven siblings and an uncle. His hard childhood motivated him. He went to the top schools in Singapore and studied accounting and finance at the University of Western Australia in Perth, where he held several part-time jobs as a waiter and taxi driver to pay for his tuition.
After graduating, Lim worked briefly as an accountant before starting out as a stockbroker. He eventually became known as the Remisier (Singapore term for stockbroker) King, servicing wealthy Indonesians and Singaporeans in the late 1980s and early 1990s. But it was Kuok who returned the service and by 1996 Lim stopped handling other people's money to become a full-time investor and to take care of personal matters. (He was going through a divorce that dragged on until 2001.)
Today he has 20 people, including former bankers and a nuclear physicist, tracking his investments and giving him daily stock updates. While his nearly 5% stake in Wilmar is his most valuable, worth almost $900 million, he also has stakes in fashion retailer FJ Benjamin, investment firm Rowsley Ltd. and brewery restaurant Brewerkz.
It will be difficult to match his Wilmar success. He's hunting for new investments, hoping to take advantage of the current downturn. He likes health care, mining and renewable energy, but what he really wants is another Kuok. "At the end of the day the key component is the person," he says. "You may target the right company, but if you've chosen the wrong person, you'll get a headache."
Wednesday, January 9, 2008
Monday, August 27, 2007
Likely delay in $2.7b Rowsley energy deal
Lee Su Shyan, Assistant Money Editor
Mon, Aug 27, 2007
The Straits Times
A $2.7 BILLION mega deal unveiled by investment holding company Rowsley in May, which left many investors unconvinced, looks to have hit a snag.
Earlier in May, mainboard-listed Rowsley said it would issue 18 billion new shares at 15 cents each in return for taking over Perfect Field, a Jilin-based company that makes solar energy panels.
The value of the shares gave Rowsley an estimated $2.7 billion in market capitalisation, making it the largest reverse takeover in Singapore's corporate history.
Other than the size of the deal, what also made news was that former remisier king Peter Lim, a substantial shareholder of Rowsley, said he would put up $150 million to subscribe to new shares of Rowsley.
Yesterday in a statement, Rowsley chief executive officer Koh Kim Huat said the company 'is currently conducting due diligence on the target group'.
'Based on information made available to it up to the date here of, the company notes that there has been a delay on the part of the target group in meeting certain expected production capacity milestones,' he said.
It is not clear what these 'milestones' are, but Rowsley mentioned earlier in May several conditions that needed to be fulfilled before the deal could go through.
Mr Koh had said one of these conditions was for Perfect Field's solar energy facility to produce 100 megawatts by October.
Before the deal is closed, Perfect Field must also demonstrate that it has three months of firm orders for its products.
Another condition is that for the financial year ended June 30 this year, Perfect Field must turn in profits of 70 million yuan (S$14.1 million).
What stoked investors' scepticism was Perfect Field's promise of a massive profit guarantee of $300 million for each of the three financial years up to June 30, 2010.
Now, it looks as if investors will be able to be updated only at the end of next month.
Mr Koh said Rowsley 'is further investigating the delay to assess its impact on the acquisition'.
He added that 'the company expects to update shareholders on the status through an announcement by end-September'.
Last month, shares of Rowsley surged to a high of 38.5 cents, but they have since sagged. Last Friday, the counter had weakened to 23 cents.
sushyan@sph.com.sg
Still hanging
ROWSLEY, under Mr Koh (left), has listed several conditions that need to be fulfilled before the deal can go through.
The investment firm expects Perfect Field's solar energy facility to produce 100 megawatts by around October.
Perfect Field must also demonstrate that it has three months of firm orders.
Another condition is that for the financial year ended June 30 this year, Perfect Field must turn in profits of 70 million yuan (S$14.1 million).
Mon, Aug 27, 2007
The Straits Times
A $2.7 BILLION mega deal unveiled by investment holding company Rowsley in May, which left many investors unconvinced, looks to have hit a snag.
Earlier in May, mainboard-listed Rowsley said it would issue 18 billion new shares at 15 cents each in return for taking over Perfect Field, a Jilin-based company that makes solar energy panels.
The value of the shares gave Rowsley an estimated $2.7 billion in market capitalisation, making it the largest reverse takeover in Singapore's corporate history.
Other than the size of the deal, what also made news was that former remisier king Peter Lim, a substantial shareholder of Rowsley, said he would put up $150 million to subscribe to new shares of Rowsley.
Yesterday in a statement, Rowsley chief executive officer Koh Kim Huat said the company 'is currently conducting due diligence on the target group'.
'Based on information made available to it up to the date here of, the company notes that there has been a delay on the part of the target group in meeting certain expected production capacity milestones,' he said.
It is not clear what these 'milestones' are, but Rowsley mentioned earlier in May several conditions that needed to be fulfilled before the deal could go through.
Mr Koh had said one of these conditions was for Perfect Field's solar energy facility to produce 100 megawatts by October.
Before the deal is closed, Perfect Field must also demonstrate that it has three months of firm orders for its products.
Another condition is that for the financial year ended June 30 this year, Perfect Field must turn in profits of 70 million yuan (S$14.1 million).
What stoked investors' scepticism was Perfect Field's promise of a massive profit guarantee of $300 million for each of the three financial years up to June 30, 2010.
Now, it looks as if investors will be able to be updated only at the end of next month.
Mr Koh said Rowsley 'is further investigating the delay to assess its impact on the acquisition'.
He added that 'the company expects to update shareholders on the status through an announcement by end-September'.
Last month, shares of Rowsley surged to a high of 38.5 cents, but they have since sagged. Last Friday, the counter had weakened to 23 cents.
sushyan@sph.com.sg
Still hanging
ROWSLEY, under Mr Koh (left), has listed several conditions that need to be fulfilled before the deal can go through.
The investment firm expects Perfect Field's solar energy facility to produce 100 megawatts by around October.
Perfect Field must also demonstrate that it has three months of firm orders.
Another condition is that for the financial year ended June 30 this year, Perfect Field must turn in profits of 70 million yuan (S$14.1 million).
Sunday, August 26, 2007
Stock Market Turmoil
Former remisier king Peter Lim
He makes paper loss of $100m in stock market turmoil, but says of his wealth: 'It makes no difference after a point'
My money will go to charity.
By Karen Wong
WHEN the Singapore stock market took a sharp dive lastweek, it wiped out more than $100 million of his stock’s value.
But former remisier king Peter Lim did not lose sleep over it.
Why? ‘I’ve been a stock broker for all my life – I’ve seen all the crashes, financial crisis, where really, it’s only a paper loss,’ replied the self-made billionaire.
‘Just make sure you are not jammed with cash flow.’
Mr Lim was referring to his almost 5 per cent investment in Wilmar International which saw its share price move from a high of $3.78 to a low of $2.89 in the space of a month. The share price last closed at $3.
To him, his wealth is less important than his family and philanthropy. His attitude towards money is almost casual. It reflects his philosophy on investing and wealth.
For those who feel they are badly mauled by the current share doldrums, Mr Lim has this piece of wisdom to share: ‘I used to say to my friends, ‘When you are holding stocks, if it goes up, don’t be too happy; when it goes down, don’t be too sad’.
‘Otherwise, how? Your life will also be fluctuating and you’ll die of a heart attack.
‘If you really lose sleep over it, maybe the best way is to keep the money in the bank.’
So what does he lose sleep over?
He replies with a laugh: ‘My kids. Like other parents, I worry about what they’re doing and whether they’ll pass their exams.’
On Thursday, he made his debut in Forbes’ latest rankings as Singapore’s seventh-richest man, with a reported net worth of US$830m illion.
Mr Lim revealed that he intends to give a large part of his money to society later. How will Singapore benefit?
Through his pet cause: Education.
He made this revelation quite casually, as if he were talking about the weather.
He said: ‘I think it’s very likely (that) a big part of my wealth will be directed towards education.’
‘It will be either a straight donation towards assisting educational institutions or maybe I’ll set up a foundation.’
He supports Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s call at the recent National Day Rally for more Singaporeans to make charitable contributions.
Mr Lim echoed PM Lee’s views that it is happening all over the world, and especially in the US.
‘Asia is a bit behind because generally, when you have money, you think of your sons and your daughters when you die.
‘But I think it has changed a lot here, principally because now, the wealth is bigger.’
He was reluctant to reveal his charitable contributions over the years, except to say that much of it was anonymous and that in the early ’90s, he was one of the earlier donors to the National Kidney Foundation.
HELPS POOR
His friend, Mr Dennis Foo, chief executive of St James Power Station, later told The New Paper that Mr Lim not only donates money, he also takes it upon himself to deliver food, like rice and cooking oil, to needy families in one-room flats and old folks’ homes.
Why education?
Mr Lim said: ‘Education must be cheap and accessible to anyone.
‘For me, I was the son of a fishmonger, but I could still go to the best school. I had the opportunity to make money. There’s no discrimination.
‘I think this policy of meritocracy actually works. It’s very very fair and nobody can complain.’
The New Paper managed to get hold of Mr Lim last Wednesday, after his meetings and before he left for a short trip overseas.
The publicity-shy tycoon was extremely reluctant to talk about his wealth. It didn’t help that he again made news recently with his involvement in one of Singapore’s largest reverse takeover bids, with his investment vehicle Rowsley buying up a chunk of a China solar power company.
But he agreed after some persuasion. He met us at Brewerkz, which he also has a stake in, at Riverside Point two hours before his flight.
Dressed in a polo T-shirt which has seen better days, a pair of cargo pants and trainers, he certainly didn’t seem to wear his wealth on his sleeves.
Why so casual? He replied that he plans to sleep on his flight.
DOESN’T MONITOR
Ironically, Mr Lim, who was one of Singapore’s leading stockbrokers and is now a private investor, does not monitor the stock market every day.
He goes through the financial reports of companies; he watches financial news to get a summary of what is happening, but he does not track the daily ups and downs of the stock he owns.
He said: ‘I only check in intervals, depending on the company.
‘If it’s a structured company, then (I check) when the results come out. For the bigger ones, quarterly results; for smaller ones, twice a year. But if it’s a start-up, I’ll check it more regularly.’
Mr Lim made headlines in the late-’80s as a star remisier, in the mid-’90s in his divorce battle and in early 2000 for his involvement in the first instalment of the Raffles Town Club court saga.
Much of his wealth now comes from a single investment: Palm oil.
In the early ’90s, he invested about US$10 million in a start-up Indonesian palm-oil company, Wilmar. Today, his almost-5 per cent stake is worth more than US$700 million.
This is a far cry from his humble beginnings. When he was young, he said, he did not even have his own room in the two-bedroom government flat he shared with 11 others.
He grew up, with three brothers and four sisters, in one of Singapore’s oldest public housing estates, Bukit Ho Swee.
His father was a fishmonger and his mother a housewife and the size of the flat was the equivalent of a three-room HDB flat today, hesaid.
He slept in the living room, or wherever he could find space to lay his mattress down for the night.
On his wealth now, he said: ‘It’s no different from what it was before I had the money. It makes no difference after a point.
‘Like what they say, you can only talk louder. You can only eat so much and fly so many trips.
‘Money lets you enjoy a lot of things, but I don’t think I’ll die without money.
‘I don’t think I’m eating a lot better than when I was a lot poorer than now. I don’t really go for very special kinds of food. I’m still very local. I like my mee siam, mee rebus and lontong.’
When his father died in the late ’60s, when Mr Lim was 22 years old.
Mr Lim completed his secondary school education in Raffles Institution and was an officer in National Service.
It was then, at the age of 18, that he bought his first lot of shares.
Did he make a killing?
‘In fact, I lost money,’ he laughed.
But not much.
‘I was only paid $385 a month, so I can’t have bought, or lost, very much.’
He then went to Perth to further his studies at the University of Western Australia.
To fund his university education, he said, he worked part-time doing odd jobs as a taxi-driver, cook and waiter.
It was one of these jobs – in the Australian fast-food chain Red Rooster – that opened his eyes to how business was done.
‘I watched how they started, how they grew, and how they scaled up.’
It was also in university where he honed his instincts and skills as an investor.
He graduated with a degree in accounting and finance and stepped out into the working world.
‘My first job was as an accountant. It lasted three months,’ he said with a chuckle.
He did some tax consultancy before he went into stocks, he said.
Mr Lim is in his element when dealing with numbers. ‘It’s something I’m very comfortable with, something I understand.
‘Give me any numbers. I look at (them) and I’m happy. It can be in any industry. You give me the numbers; somehow I can figure it all out.’
His secret to investing is…
WHAT is Peter Lim’s secret to successful investing?
Prospect, he replied….
He looks at sectors.
‘Like if I think solar is good, I go into solar; if I think palm oil is good, then palm oil.
‘Share prices go up because the sector grows. So if I think this sector is going to be good in the next 10 years, then I’ll just invest in it.’
Another key reason for his success, he said, is patience.
Mr Lim, who also acts as a consultant to companies and helps them find multi-million-dollar investors, does not subscribe to buying one day and selling the next to cash in.
His advice to young investors: ‘You have to invest with a longer-term mindset. You buy a good stock, leave it there for 10 years. Come 10 years, this dollar can be many, many multiples.
‘I think the trick is really to think long-term.
‘ You may not have a lot of money, but you have a lot of time.’
‘The minimum length of my investments are five to six years, if not 10 to 12 years.’
He cites the example of his condominium.
He owns an entire 11-storey block at prestigious Ardmore Park, near Orchard Road. He and his wife, with his 85-year-old mother, live in one apartment, while three other maisonettes and the penthouse sits empty.
‘I bought it in 1994 for $13m and I just hold there and wait. With the current property market, it is worth more than $100m.’
Same with Wilmar, which he invested in in the early ’90s. It was then a US$10m investment. Now, his stake is worth some US$700m.
He makes paper loss of $100m in stock market turmoil, but says of his wealth: 'It makes no difference after a point'
My money will go to charity.
By Karen Wong
WHEN the Singapore stock market took a sharp dive lastweek, it wiped out more than $100 million of his stock’s value.
But former remisier king Peter Lim did not lose sleep over it.
Why? ‘I’ve been a stock broker for all my life – I’ve seen all the crashes, financial crisis, where really, it’s only a paper loss,’ replied the self-made billionaire.
‘Just make sure you are not jammed with cash flow.’
Mr Lim was referring to his almost 5 per cent investment in Wilmar International which saw its share price move from a high of $3.78 to a low of $2.89 in the space of a month. The share price last closed at $3.
To him, his wealth is less important than his family and philanthropy. His attitude towards money is almost casual. It reflects his philosophy on investing and wealth.
For those who feel they are badly mauled by the current share doldrums, Mr Lim has this piece of wisdom to share: ‘I used to say to my friends, ‘When you are holding stocks, if it goes up, don’t be too happy; when it goes down, don’t be too sad’.
‘Otherwise, how? Your life will also be fluctuating and you’ll die of a heart attack.
‘If you really lose sleep over it, maybe the best way is to keep the money in the bank.’
So what does he lose sleep over?
He replies with a laugh: ‘My kids. Like other parents, I worry about what they’re doing and whether they’ll pass their exams.’
On Thursday, he made his debut in Forbes’ latest rankings as Singapore’s seventh-richest man, with a reported net worth of US$830m illion.
Mr Lim revealed that he intends to give a large part of his money to society later. How will Singapore benefit?
Through his pet cause: Education.
He made this revelation quite casually, as if he were talking about the weather.
He said: ‘I think it’s very likely (that) a big part of my wealth will be directed towards education.’
‘It will be either a straight donation towards assisting educational institutions or maybe I’ll set up a foundation.’
He supports Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s call at the recent National Day Rally for more Singaporeans to make charitable contributions.
Mr Lim echoed PM Lee’s views that it is happening all over the world, and especially in the US.
‘Asia is a bit behind because generally, when you have money, you think of your sons and your daughters when you die.
‘But I think it has changed a lot here, principally because now, the wealth is bigger.’
He was reluctant to reveal his charitable contributions over the years, except to say that much of it was anonymous and that in the early ’90s, he was one of the earlier donors to the National Kidney Foundation.
HELPS POOR
His friend, Mr Dennis Foo, chief executive of St James Power Station, later told The New Paper that Mr Lim not only donates money, he also takes it upon himself to deliver food, like rice and cooking oil, to needy families in one-room flats and old folks’ homes.
Why education?
Mr Lim said: ‘Education must be cheap and accessible to anyone.
‘For me, I was the son of a fishmonger, but I could still go to the best school. I had the opportunity to make money. There’s no discrimination.
‘I think this policy of meritocracy actually works. It’s very very fair and nobody can complain.’
The New Paper managed to get hold of Mr Lim last Wednesday, after his meetings and before he left for a short trip overseas.
The publicity-shy tycoon was extremely reluctant to talk about his wealth. It didn’t help that he again made news recently with his involvement in one of Singapore’s largest reverse takeover bids, with his investment vehicle Rowsley buying up a chunk of a China solar power company.
But he agreed after some persuasion. He met us at Brewerkz, which he also has a stake in, at Riverside Point two hours before his flight.
Dressed in a polo T-shirt which has seen better days, a pair of cargo pants and trainers, he certainly didn’t seem to wear his wealth on his sleeves.
Why so casual? He replied that he plans to sleep on his flight.
DOESN’T MONITOR
Ironically, Mr Lim, who was one of Singapore’s leading stockbrokers and is now a private investor, does not monitor the stock market every day.
He goes through the financial reports of companies; he watches financial news to get a summary of what is happening, but he does not track the daily ups and downs of the stock he owns.
He said: ‘I only check in intervals, depending on the company.
‘If it’s a structured company, then (I check) when the results come out. For the bigger ones, quarterly results; for smaller ones, twice a year. But if it’s a start-up, I’ll check it more regularly.’
Mr Lim made headlines in the late-’80s as a star remisier, in the mid-’90s in his divorce battle and in early 2000 for his involvement in the first instalment of the Raffles Town Club court saga.
Much of his wealth now comes from a single investment: Palm oil.
In the early ’90s, he invested about US$10 million in a start-up Indonesian palm-oil company, Wilmar. Today, his almost-5 per cent stake is worth more than US$700 million.
This is a far cry from his humble beginnings. When he was young, he said, he did not even have his own room in the two-bedroom government flat he shared with 11 others.
He grew up, with three brothers and four sisters, in one of Singapore’s oldest public housing estates, Bukit Ho Swee.
His father was a fishmonger and his mother a housewife and the size of the flat was the equivalent of a three-room HDB flat today, hesaid.
He slept in the living room, or wherever he could find space to lay his mattress down for the night.
On his wealth now, he said: ‘It’s no different from what it was before I had the money. It makes no difference after a point.
‘Like what they say, you can only talk louder. You can only eat so much and fly so many trips.
‘Money lets you enjoy a lot of things, but I don’t think I’ll die without money.
‘I don’t think I’m eating a lot better than when I was a lot poorer than now. I don’t really go for very special kinds of food. I’m still very local. I like my mee siam, mee rebus and lontong.’
When his father died in the late ’60s, when Mr Lim was 22 years old.
Mr Lim completed his secondary school education in Raffles Institution and was an officer in National Service.
It was then, at the age of 18, that he bought his first lot of shares.
Did he make a killing?
‘In fact, I lost money,’ he laughed.
But not much.
‘I was only paid $385 a month, so I can’t have bought, or lost, very much.’
He then went to Perth to further his studies at the University of Western Australia.
To fund his university education, he said, he worked part-time doing odd jobs as a taxi-driver, cook and waiter.
It was one of these jobs – in the Australian fast-food chain Red Rooster – that opened his eyes to how business was done.
‘I watched how they started, how they grew, and how they scaled up.’
It was also in university where he honed his instincts and skills as an investor.
He graduated with a degree in accounting and finance and stepped out into the working world.
‘My first job was as an accountant. It lasted three months,’ he said with a chuckle.
He did some tax consultancy before he went into stocks, he said.
Mr Lim is in his element when dealing with numbers. ‘It’s something I’m very comfortable with, something I understand.
‘Give me any numbers. I look at (them) and I’m happy. It can be in any industry. You give me the numbers; somehow I can figure it all out.’
His secret to investing is…
WHAT is Peter Lim’s secret to successful investing?
Prospect, he replied….
He looks at sectors.
‘Like if I think solar is good, I go into solar; if I think palm oil is good, then palm oil.
‘Share prices go up because the sector grows. So if I think this sector is going to be good in the next 10 years, then I’ll just invest in it.’
Another key reason for his success, he said, is patience.
Mr Lim, who also acts as a consultant to companies and helps them find multi-million-dollar investors, does not subscribe to buying one day and selling the next to cash in.
His advice to young investors: ‘You have to invest with a longer-term mindset. You buy a good stock, leave it there for 10 years. Come 10 years, this dollar can be many, many multiples.
‘I think the trick is really to think long-term.
‘ You may not have a lot of money, but you have a lot of time.’
‘The minimum length of my investments are five to six years, if not 10 to 12 years.’
He cites the example of his condominium.
He owns an entire 11-storey block at prestigious Ardmore Park, near Orchard Road. He and his wife, with his 85-year-old mother, live in one apartment, while three other maisonettes and the penthouse sits empty.
‘I bought it in 1994 for $13m and I just hold there and wait. With the current property market, it is worth more than $100m.’
Same with Wilmar, which he invested in in the early ’90s. It was then a US$10m investment. Now, his stake is worth some US$700m.
Sunday, July 29, 2007
Home for family of three is entire 11-storey condo
They're leaving the penthouse and 3 other maisonettes empty. Who needs to rent them out when you're billionaire Peter Lim - and he won't cash in on his $100m Ardmore Park property
By Lee Su Shyan
EVEN for the ultra rich, condo living still means having to share facilities like pools and tennis courts with neighbours. Unless you're billionaire Peter Lim, that is.
Mr Lim, his wife Cherie and his 85-year-old mother have an entire 11-storey condo - and pool - at Ardmore Park to themselves. No noisy neighbours, no barking dogs, no learner trumpeters practising in the apartment next door.
The family occupy an apartment close to 4,000 sq ft at the Abelia condo while the other three maisonettes and a 5,000 sq ft penthouse sit empty, although there is a security guard.
Not that Mr Lim needs the rent. He made his first fortune as a remisier and another bigger one with shrewd investments in palm oil.
And Abelia - Mr Lim owns 80 per cent and a pal the rest - is probably worth about $100 million given its primest of prime locations near Orchard Road.
But Mr Lim is resisting the temptation to sell up and cash in on the property boom as his mum does not want to move.
They like the location and the acres of space, including an underground carpark, which is handy given Mr Lim's pricey collection of 10 cars, Ferraris included.
'I have enough space to park them,' Mr Lim said in a recent interview.
'The road is also very wide with lots of entrances and exits. If I were to live at Orchard Turn, I would have to put up with the bad traffic. But here, there are many ways for me to avoid the congestion,' he added.
And while he could sell the Abelia and buy a handful of houses, the posh bungalow life in District 10 doesn't suit him.
'Maybe it comes from the days when I was a remisier and travelling a lot in Malaysia, every four days of the week.
'That has made me security conscious so I prefer to live in an apartment,' he said.
The bumper gain he is sitting on at the Abelia must also enhance the home sweet home feeling. He bought the building in 1994 when Malayan Credit sold some of its investment properties, paying less than $14 million.
That is looking like a bargain to end all bargains, what with the land and building now worth as much as $100 million, going by recent sale prices.
Last month, SC Global forked out $262 million for The Ardmore, just a few doors away at 6 Ardmore Park. The price for the plot of 42,565 sq ft worked out to $2,337 per sq ft (psf) of potential gross floor area, including development charges.
Abelia has an estimated 40,000 sq ft of gross floor area, which could mean a sale price of about $100 million given the $2,500 psf it could command in today's market, say some consultants.
Others sound a note of caution as the Abelia's land area is far smaller at 14,000 sq ft, although as Knight Frank's head of research and consultancy Nicholas Mak says: 'The whole stretch of Ardmore Park is valuable land, and the price it can fetch will depend on the size and the shape of the parcel.'
Whatever price it might command, it will be small beer compared to Mr Lim's stake of just under 5 per cent in palm oil giant Wilmar International, which is worth around $1 billion.
While Abelia is only 11 storeys, it dominates the area - at least for the next few months.
It is surrounded on three sides by the building site for Wheelock Properties' 36-storey Ardmore Park II. The site was occupied by Habitat Two and Ardmore View, which were sold en bloc last year.
But Mr Lim is not fretting about the noise and dust as modern piling methods have reduced much of the impact.
Anyway, he can always get away for the day in one of his flashy cars sitting in that spacious underground carpark.
IT FEELS MORE SECURE
'Maybe it comes from the days when I was a remisier and travelling a lot in Malaysia, every four days of the week. That has made me security conscious so I prefer to live in an apartment.'
MR LIM on why he has no plans to sell his condo and move into a landed property
By Lee Su Shyan
EVEN for the ultra rich, condo living still means having to share facilities like pools and tennis courts with neighbours. Unless you're billionaire Peter Lim, that is.
Mr Lim, his wife Cherie and his 85-year-old mother have an entire 11-storey condo - and pool - at Ardmore Park to themselves. No noisy neighbours, no barking dogs, no learner trumpeters practising in the apartment next door.
The family occupy an apartment close to 4,000 sq ft at the Abelia condo while the other three maisonettes and a 5,000 sq ft penthouse sit empty, although there is a security guard.
Not that Mr Lim needs the rent. He made his first fortune as a remisier and another bigger one with shrewd investments in palm oil.
And Abelia - Mr Lim owns 80 per cent and a pal the rest - is probably worth about $100 million given its primest of prime locations near Orchard Road.
But Mr Lim is resisting the temptation to sell up and cash in on the property boom as his mum does not want to move.
They like the location and the acres of space, including an underground carpark, which is handy given Mr Lim's pricey collection of 10 cars, Ferraris included.
'I have enough space to park them,' Mr Lim said in a recent interview.
'The road is also very wide with lots of entrances and exits. If I were to live at Orchard Turn, I would have to put up with the bad traffic. But here, there are many ways for me to avoid the congestion,' he added.
And while he could sell the Abelia and buy a handful of houses, the posh bungalow life in District 10 doesn't suit him.
'Maybe it comes from the days when I was a remisier and travelling a lot in Malaysia, every four days of the week.
'That has made me security conscious so I prefer to live in an apartment,' he said.
The bumper gain he is sitting on at the Abelia must also enhance the home sweet home feeling. He bought the building in 1994 when Malayan Credit sold some of its investment properties, paying less than $14 million.
That is looking like a bargain to end all bargains, what with the land and building now worth as much as $100 million, going by recent sale prices.
Last month, SC Global forked out $262 million for The Ardmore, just a few doors away at 6 Ardmore Park. The price for the plot of 42,565 sq ft worked out to $2,337 per sq ft (psf) of potential gross floor area, including development charges.
Abelia has an estimated 40,000 sq ft of gross floor area, which could mean a sale price of about $100 million given the $2,500 psf it could command in today's market, say some consultants.
Others sound a note of caution as the Abelia's land area is far smaller at 14,000 sq ft, although as Knight Frank's head of research and consultancy Nicholas Mak says: 'The whole stretch of Ardmore Park is valuable land, and the price it can fetch will depend on the size and the shape of the parcel.'
Whatever price it might command, it will be small beer compared to Mr Lim's stake of just under 5 per cent in palm oil giant Wilmar International, which is worth around $1 billion.
While Abelia is only 11 storeys, it dominates the area - at least for the next few months.
It is surrounded on three sides by the building site for Wheelock Properties' 36-storey Ardmore Park II. The site was occupied by Habitat Two and Ardmore View, which were sold en bloc last year.
But Mr Lim is not fretting about the noise and dust as modern piling methods have reduced much of the impact.
Anyway, he can always get away for the day in one of his flashy cars sitting in that spacious underground carpark.
IT FEELS MORE SECURE
'Maybe it comes from the days when I was a remisier and travelling a lot in Malaysia, every four days of the week. That has made me security conscious so I prefer to live in an apartment.'
MR LIM on why he has no plans to sell his condo and move into a landed property
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