With just over a fortnight left for the first ever Formula One race to be held in India, UB Group?s Vijay Mallya on Wednesday offloaded 8% of his intial 50% stake in the Force India F1 team.
Sahara Group, owned by Subrata Roy, has picked up 42% stake, majority of it from the Dutch owner Michael Mol. According to TV reports, the deal was struck to increase investment in research and development. The team is now likely to manufacture its own equipment.While the MOI family has offloaded 34% stake, Mallya and Sahara both own 42% stake each.
Shares of Mallya-owned UB Group rose 9.5% on the bourses on Wednesday to close at R107.95 on the BSE on the news that the company is planning to sell some stake in the team.
Mallya had bought the Spyker Ferrari F1 Team in 2007, reportedly for about 90 million euros. He then renamed the team as ?Force India? for the 2008 season.