Trading firm tied to China’s fallen copper king sells Singapore office at 20 Collyer Quay
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Awin Resources International sold the office at 20 Collyer Quay to a subsidiary of developer GuocoLand earlier this month.
PHOTO: SCREENGRAB FROM GOOGLE MAPS
Singapore – A Singapore-based commodities trading firm linked to troubled Chinese copper tycoon Wang Wenyin has sold the top three floors of a prime office building in the Central Business District for $91.8 million, according to property transaction documents.
Awin Resources International, a trading affiliate of Mr Wang’s Amer International Group, sold the office at 20 Collyer Quay to a subsidiary of developer GuocoLand earlier in March, according to official records seen by Bloomberg.
Awin was founded by Mr Wang’s family in 2011, and his son is currently listed as the company’s sole director.
Mr Wang – nicknamed “copper king” in his heyday, when his sprawling group was said to handle a 10th of China’s copper imports – has stumbled in recent years, suspending regular metals trading and closing factories.
Bloomberg News reported in October that Mr Wang himself faced legal claims seeking US$1.6 billion (S$2.1 billion) in unpaid debts.
Awin paid $63.6 million to acquire the units in 2012, acquiring a combined 29,160 sq ft. At that time, Amer was expanding its metals trading operations and hunting for global assets.
At its zenith, the Amer office in the upper reaches of a tower just across the harbour from Marina Bay Sands was packed with rosewood furniture and photographs of Mr Wang with senior government officials.
The top-floor unit is also the registered address of Wen Way Investments, Amer’s Singapore-based real estate arm.
Businessman Philip Chan Man Ping, the Hong Kong-born, naturalised Singaporean who managed Wen Way, was tagged as a “politically significant person” in 2024, under a law aimed at limiting external interference.
The designation means he needs to disclose large political donations and foreign affiliations.
A spokesperson for GuocoLand said the transaction was part of the firm’s “ordinary course of business”, adding that it would take over management of the three floors.
The developer, backed by Malaysian billionaire Quek Leng Chan, acquired the 999-year leasehold building in the 1980s, though some of its office units are held by other owners for shorter tenures.
BLOOMBERG
