Force India co-owner Sahara is seeking to sell its stake in the Formula 1 team "as part of efforts to raise cash and free jailed founder Subrata Roy," according to Alan Baldwin of REUTERS. Roy was arrested in March '14 after the "embattled conglomerate failed to comply with a Supreme Court order to refund money" they had raised from millions of small investors through the sale of bonds "later ruled to be illegal." The British-based team, co-owned with liquor baron Vijay Mallya, "is among the prized assets of the company that is a household name in India as the former main sponsor of the national cricket team." Gautam Awasthi, a lawyer for Sahara, said in a statement on Tuesday the group had been able to "formalise deals" with regard to three foreign properties which, when closed, would raise about 23B rupees ($338.4M). Awasthi said that Sahara had "sought permission from the Supreme Court to sell other assets," including the Sahara Star hotel and the Force India stake, which would raise a combined 30B rupees ($440M) (REUTERS, 2/2). TIMES OF INDIA's Amit Anand Choudhary reported Sahara's counsel, senior advocate Kapil Sibal, told a bench of Chief Justice T.S. Thakur and Justices A.R. Dave and A.K. Sikri that the group "has decided to sell its stake in the Formula One team along with Sahara Star Hotel in Mumbai and four small aircraft." Sibal also told the bench that the group was on the "last leg" of negotiations with Qatar to seal a deal for Grosvenor House hotel in London and "urged the court to allow Roy to use Tihar Jail's conference room to negotiate with the foreign buyer." The bench "declined the plea and took a dig at Roy writing a book in jail." The court said, "Nothing has happened in the last few months except a book being released. Not a single penny has been deposited by Sahara with Sebi" (TIMES OF INDIA, 2/3).
