Grab CEO Anthony Tan’s family ‘grabbed’ a good class bungalow near Holland Village for S$40M

The family of Grab’s CEO Anthony Tan has bought a good class bungalow (GCB) in the Bin Tong Park area for S$40 million, the Business Times reported.

The area is in District 10 and is located near Holland Village and Leedon Park.

The purchase was made by the wife of Tan, Chloe Tong, the Business Times understands. The bungalow on the property is said to have been built in the 1990s, and the couple is expected to redevelop the property.

The property was sold by a doctor, and the deal was made a few months back and has been completed.

The freehold land area of 21,637 square feet translates to S$1,849 per square foot. Market watchers say that the price Tong paid for is a “fair” deal, since the deal was entered into a few months back.

The transactions for GCBs – the creme de la creme of real estate properties in Singapore – for the past six months have exceeded the whole of last year, with 53 deals totaling S$1.5 billion, URA Realis caveats showed. Last year there were 46 deals worth S$1.1 billion for the full year.

For one to own a GCB, he or she has to be a Singapore citizen. According to Forbes, Tan became a Singapore citizen in 2016.

Grab’s rise to superapp

Superapp Grab’s headquarters are in Singapore. Founded in 2012, it was earlier known as MyTeksi and started out its early days as a taxi-hailing business in Kuala Lumpur.

Grab is currently working on a US$40 billion SPAC deal which is slated to complete in the fourth quarter of this year.

Grab’s valuation is the largest so far in the SPAC space, and the ride-hailing giant could raise about S$6 billion (US$4.5 billion) in cash proceeds.

The company is said to have more than 6,000 employees. Its new S$181 million headquarters is located at One North business park.

This is the second time in 10 days a tech founder has been reported to have bought a GCB.

Last week, 28-year old Ian Ang, co-founder and CEO of gaming chair manufacturer Secretlab was reported to have bought two luxury properties worth S$51 million. One of them was a GCB.