Losing Force India bidder seeking legal action against Vijay Mallya owned F1 team after 'unfair administration process'

Russian fertilizer company Uralkali claims that it had attempted to buy the Vijay Mallya owned F1 team, Force India after it feel out of administration during the summer. However, it lost out to a bid led by Lawrence Stroll, father of Williams F1 driver Lance, and now the Russian group have raised concerns about the administration process. 

In a statement given to Autosport, Uralkali claims that the winning bid was 'significantly inferior' as compared to the offer tabled by them, and believes that the 'highest bid should have been awarded the winner'. 

Russian fertilizer group Uralkali said that by turning down its higher bid for the company, the administrators had denied the extra funds that would have accrued to the shareholder of Force India — Mallya's Orange India Holdings Sarl — which is subject to a freezing order issued by the UK's High Court in favour of his 13 creditor Indian banks, led by the State Bank of India.

Uralkali have now 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.

The administrators, however, insist they oversaw a "fair and transparent bidding process" which 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.

Mallya, through Orange India Holdings set up in 2007, owned a 42.5 per cent stake in the Silverstone-based racing team alongside a similar shareholding in the hands of India's Sahara Group.

Describing the 62-year-old UK-based businessman fighting his extradition to India on fraud and money laundering charges amounting to nearly Rs 9,000 crores as a "unique character", Ostling said it had been made clear to Uralkali that the administrator and team's engine partner Mercedes would not accept any deal in which either Mallya or Sahara had any "share or interest or participation".

"Mallya's legal entanglements made it impossible for anyone to do a normal business deal with him to acquire Force India. When you are trying to do a deal with a man who is facing extradition and other charges, it made it extraordinarily difficult," said Ostling, who indicated that Uralkali is still interested in acquiring Force India because it is a good racing team which "punches above its weight".

"It's very sad what's going on with Mr Mallya and Sahara and all their problems. But the team is a wonderful group of people; the drivers, mechanics, business people are an extraordinary group of 400 people who we adore. We wanted to take care of them and support them," Ostling added.

A ruling in Mallya's extradition trial at Westminster Magistrates' Court in London is scheduled for December 10. 

A separate UK High Court ruling from May this year upheld a worldwide freezing order against the businessman, with a follow-up enforcement order in June in favour of the consortium of 13 Indian banks to recover estimated funds of around 1.145 billion pounds.

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.

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.