Anwar had bought the bungalow on mortgage to a bank. After the 2009 global financial crisis, Anwar was in financial distress, facing the bank-mortgagee's threat to foreclose unless he paid up his outstanding loan of close to $20m. He thus sought to borrow money to pay off the bank loan, using the bungalow as security. EC, a property developer, answered the call. With their respective solicitors, a transaction was structured so that Ridout would grant EC an option to purchase the bungalow at $20m for an upfront $1.5m option fee, with Ridout having the right to cancel that option within 60 days after refund of the $1.5m plus a cancellation “compensation” fee of $180,000. This right to cancel was contained in a deed of settlement executed contemporaneously with the option to purchase, but post-dated three days later to give the impression that it was a subsequent agreement. Unfortunately, Ridout did not cancel the option in time. At the time the option was granted, the bungalow's forced sale valuation was $23.2m. Property prices soared. Six months later, a second option to purchase the bungalow at $37m was granted to a subsequent innocent purchaser, Thomas Chan. Eyeing a golden opportunity, EC sought specific performance of the first option to purchase at $20m.