The company that handled Force India’s administration has hit out at Uralkali’s decision to take legal action, and expects the case to be swiftly dismissed.
Uralkali, the organisation headed up by Dimitry Mazepin, father of GP3 racer Nikita Mazepin, confirmed on Thursday morning that it intended to bring legal action against FRP Advisory.
It claimed that it received “prejudicial and unequal treatment", asserting its offer was "higher" than that of the eventual winning bid by Lawrence Stroll and a consortium of investors.
FRP Advisory issued a statement shortly after Uralkali’s intent to take legal action, confirming that it would vigorously defend itself, and later on Thursday provided a follow-up, explaining that Racing Point was the only party to submit a rescue proposal.
“We can now confirm that we have been served with a claim from Uralkali relating to the administration of Force India,” confirmed a statement.
“We are disappointed that Uralkali chose to issue their press release before issuing their claim.
“We have acted in compliance with our duties as administrators at all times and oversaw a fair and transparent bidding process which ultimately achieved a very successful outcome for all stakeholders.
“Having now seen the substance of Uralkali’s claim we are ever more confident it will be dismissed at the earliest opportunity.
“As all of the interested parties were aware, our primary statutory duty as administrators was to pursue a rescue of Force India as a going concern.
“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.
“Once the proposal had been carefully assessed and we, alongside our legal advisors, were satisfied that it was reasonably achievable, we were under a statutory duty to proceed with it.
“Having failed to submit a proposal to rescue the company Uralkali now insists on comparing its bid to buy the assets of the company with a rival bid to rescue the company or buy the assets should that fail.”
