'Thirteen Indian banks lost out about Rs 378 cr in Mallya's Force India sale'

London: One of the two main bidders, keen to acquire embattled Indian businessman Vijay Mallya's Force India Formula One racing team after it went into administration, has claimed that a consortium of 13 Indian banks lost out an estimated Rs 378 crore as a result of an "unfair" sales process concluded last month.

Russian fertiliser 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 launched legal proceedings against administrators FRP Advisory in the High Court in London on Friday 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.

"We submitted by far the winning bid for the assets and business, which would have meant most money to the stakeholders and qualitatively recapitalised the team... We have serious concerns as to why the administrators did not use the opportunity to maximise the amounts that could have been paid to creditors and shareholders," said Paul James Ostling, Senior Independent Director of Uralkali, who led the firm's offer for Force India.

"Had he [administrator] taken our bid, because of the freezing order, there would have been millions available for the ultimate stakeholders, which according to the freezing order are the Indian banks," he said. AGENCIES