Vijay Mallya does it again in UK.
1 One of the two main bidders, keen to acquire embattled Force India Formula One racing team after it went into administration, has claimed that a consortium of 13 Indian banks lost out on estimated 40 million pounds as a result of an "unfair" sales process concluded last month.
2 Russian Uralkali said that by turning down its higher bid for the administrators had denied the extra funds that would have accrued to the shareholder of Force India which is subject to a freezing order issued by the UK's High Court in favour of his 13 creditor Indian banks
3 Uralkali launched legal proceedings against administrators FRP Advisory in the High Court in London on Thursday to claim "tens of millions of dollars" in damages over the alleged "prejudicial and unequal treatment" in the bidding process.
4 “Had he [administrator] taken our bid, because of the freezing order, there would have been millions and millions more available for the ultimate stakeholders, which according to the freezing order are the Indian banks”
5 Uralkali, which accounts for 20 per cent of the world's potash production, has been a partner of Force India and one of the sponsors of Formula One Grand Prix Sochi, which takes place in Russia on Sunday.
6 The company said it had set out an extremely generous offer to acquire Force India's business, assets and goodwill, which included a cash consideration between 101.5 million and 122 million pounds.
7 "All parties had the opportunity to submit a proposal to rescue the company rather than buy its assets. When the final offers came in, Racing Point was the only party to submit a rescue proposal,"
Said FRP advisory
Said FRP advisory
8 While the administrators claim Uralkali failed to submit a rescue offer, the Russian firm accuses the administrators of running an "opaque" process that never made such a criterion for the bidding process clear.
9 This entire process" led to the sale of Force India to the Racing Point consortium, led by Canadian billionaire Lawrence Stroll, after it went into administration in July.
10 Uralkali now believes "everything will come out in the open" in the course of the matter being heard in the London High Court in coming months
