This Indian billionaire stopped in Franschhoek for a sandwich. Now he owns a slice of the place

Like Ray in the Oscar-nominated Retirement Plan by Irish director John Kelly, we all have a bucket list for the years left to live or for the time we feel we have lost. Perhaps, one day, when we are all rich and still in good health, we will retire to a beautiful wine country, sip on some fine Merlot and gaze at the tall, brown mountains. For most of us, that remains a distant fantasy. But billionaire Analjit Singh, now an early septuagenarian, didn’t have to wait that long. He spends half the year in Franschhoek, doing exactly that, against the expansive views of the Dassenberg mountains. 

In 2010, while being driven around Cape Town, the chairman of the $7 billion Max Group, which deals in life insurance, real estate, and senior care, made an unplanned stop in Franschhoek for a sandwich and coffee. He had never heard of the town before. By the time he left, Singh had decided he would return. Besides Gulmarg, where he spent his childhood vacations, no place had ever called out to him the way Franschhoek did, he says.

About an hour from Cape Town, Franschhoek sits in a narrow valley in the Cape Winelands region. The town traces its origins to 1688, when French Huguenots settled here after fleeing religious persecution in Europe and laid the foundations of its wine culture.

Today, the Cape Winelands region has joined the Black River District in Mauritius, Marrakech, and South Africa’s Whale Coast as the continent’s fastest-growing millionaire hotspots, according to the Africa Wealth Report 2025. And Franschhoek, with a population of just about 18,000 people, draws an outsized share of wealth and attention.

Homesteads with elegant Dutch gables rise out of vineyards and luxury cars glide through the town’s still afternoon streets. At its centre is Huguenot Street, the town’s single main artery, lined with galleries, tasting rooms, and restaurants that regularly appear on international rankings. Several billionaires, including Richard Branson and Johann Rupert, founder of the luxury goods group Richemont and South Africa’s richest man, own property here. None, however, have a footprint as extensive as Singh’s.

After his initial visit, Singh acquired three estates and restored the heritage buildings on them. They now form the Leeu Collection—‘Leeu’ is Afrikaans for lion, a nod to his surname—comprising Leeu Estates, a vineyard resort that houses La Petite Colombe, the Franschhoek sister to La Colombe in Constantia (which has featured on the World’s 50 Best Restaurants list); Leeu House, a Cape Dutch-style property; and Le Quartier Français, a jewel-box hotel with private villas.

Across these properties, works from Singh’s personal art collection hang on walls, sit in courtyards, and punctuate landscaped gardens. For instance, at Leeu Estates, the focal point on the Manor House lawn is Deborah Bell’s ‘Artemis’, a bronze of the Greek goddess on the hunt with three dogs at her side. And at Le Quartier Français, South African sculptor Wilma Cruise’s ‘Monkey Business’ and ‘Small Baboon’ sculptures flank the swimming pool. 

Along the high street, his partnerships include Tuk Tuk Microbrewery, where craft beer is served with pappadums, and the Everard Read gallery. Singh now divides his time between New Delhi and Franschhoek, spending nearly six months a year in Franschhoek, staying in a private villa on Leeu Estates.

What began with three estates in the Cape Winelands has since expanded beyond South Africa. The Leeu Collection now includes Linthwaite House in England’s Lake District and the recently opened Collegio alla Querce in Florence.

“None of this was planned,” Singh tells me over a video call from New Delhi. He had reached a stage in life where he was looking for tranquillity. “I was done with Delhi. But I also like [to invest in] land. It runs in the family. Once I bought the first estate, I was offered the farm next to it. That’s how it kept growing,” he shares.

Franschhoek may not have been planned, but hospitality was not a late-life whim. Singh founded the Max Group in 1985 and made his name in telecom, partnering with Hutchison to build what would eventually become Vodafone India. After stepping away from that chapter and expanding into healthcare and financial services, he returned to an older interest: hospitality. In 2009, he explored a bid for East India Hotels, owner of the Oberoi and Trident brands, an early, unrealised attempt to enter India’s luxury hotel business. Franschhoek became the entry point. It was also in South Africa that Singh met Nicolette Waterford, now his partner, a development that, by his own account, kept him in the country longer than he had first intended.

The longer Singh stayed, the more enterprising he became. Singh, who loves his Scotch, is now equally eloquent on wine. In 2013, he partnered with Chris and Andrea Mullineux, taking a stake in what is now Mullineux & Leeu Family Wines. The Mullineuxes had already built a following for their Swartland wines, particularly Syrah and old-vine Chenin Blanc, and the collaboration brought their operation into Franschhoek. 

Leeu Estates, which spans 68 hectares, now houses the winery, though much of the fruit continues to come from vineyards in the Swartland, about 80 kilometres north of Cape Town. The partnership also includes Leeu Passant, a separate label focused on historic vineyard sites across the Cape. At the Wine Studio on the estate, the range runs from Chenin Blanc to Syrah and Rhône-style blends.

“I have grown to love the agricultural aspect of winemaking and the idea of wine being this living, breathing thing,” Singh says. “And when I entertain people, it always feels special to serve them wine that I have helped create.”

The investment has proved commercially sound. Leeu Passant wines are reportedly distributed in more than 35 countries. The hotels draw an international clientele; Tom Cruise stayed at Leeu Estates last year.

He may own a significant slice of the town, but Singh is now very much a local. To some, he is “BAS”, short for Bhai Analjit Singh. To others, simply Mr Singh. He takes long walks through Franschhoek and has his preferred corners across the properties. “The people are warm here. They are familiar with Indians, especially Sikhs,” he says. “It is a quiet life, and a rewarding one.”