Paul Jeffrey
Premium
Force India have announced they have entered administration, however the team will continue to participate in this weekends Hungarian Grand Prix.
In a statement to Formula1.com, Force India said “specialist business advisory firm FRP Advisory LLP were appointed Joint Administrators of Force India Formula One Team Limited” on Friday.
Joint Administrator Geoff Rowley said: “We shall be engaging with key stakeholders on an urgent basis to secure the best outcome for creditors.
“In the meantime, the team will continue to operate as normal, including racing in Hungary this weekend. Our aim is for business as usual whilst we assess options to secure the future of the team.”
Force India have been courting potential buyers for a number of years now, essentially having entered a period of financial difficulty thanks to increased legal pressure on team owner Vijay Mallya back home in India, helped little by Mallya's reported reluctance to release his hold on the Silverstone based team.
With the High Court ruling in London yesterday forcing a decision to sell out of the flamboyant Indian's hands, Force India are now effectively very much on the market for new investors, potentially driving down the price of the team as it looks to find ways to stay afloat and continue in Grand Prix racing for the remainder of the season and beyond.
"The company is now in administration and the administrator will be looking at potential buyers," Force India's Bob Fernley told Autosport.
"And hopefully one of those buyers will be able to fulfil the ambitions of the team, which is to take it from where it is today, which I think is a podium-opportunity team, into a podium-on-merit team.
"Interested buyers will lodge their interest with FRP, and FRP will now evaluate the business case for any of the potential buyers.
"From that I'm sure there will be a process which will involve Mercedes and F1 Group to determine the most appropriate buyer for Force India.
"The decision now is FRP's in terms of who is selected, but I think there are a number of quality investor groups that are willing to come in and take this team to the next level, and the team deserves it."
"There has to be investment in the team," said Fernley. "The team is now basically hitting the buffers in terms of its assets that it has today.
"And hopefully one of those buyers will be able to fulfil the ambitions of the team, which is to take it from where it is today, which I think is a podium-opportunity team, into a podium-on-merit team.
"Interested buyers will lodge their interest with FRP, and FRP will now evaluate the business case for any of the potential buyers.
"From that I'm sure there will be a process which will involve Mercedes and F1 Group to determine the most appropriate buyer for Force India.
"The decision now is FRP's in terms of who is selected, but I think there are a number of quality investor groups that are willing to come in and take this team to the next level, and the team deserves it."
"There has to be investment in the team," said Fernley. "The team is now basically hitting the buffers in terms of its assets that it has today.
"In order to go forward to become a team of podium merit, then it also has to have investment, and it is what will be required as part of the process of looking at the new owners."
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