The ongoing battle for a controlling stake in Viajy Mallya's Mangalore Chemicals and Fertilizers (MCF) has got intense with both Zuari Group and Deepak Fertilisers revising their open offer price upwards in order to buy out the additional 26% in the company.

The revised price offered by Sailesh Mehta-run Deepak Fertilisers is overwhelmingly higher than that by Saroj Poddar's Zuari Fertilisers and Chemicals (ZFC) and it is likely that Mehta would win the win due to the price difference.

While Deepak Fertilisers has revised its final offer from Rs 63 per share to Rs 93.60, Poddar, who had teamed up with UB Group chairman Vijay Mallya, raised the offer price to Rs 81.60 from Rs 68.55. Market analysts feel Deepak Fertilisers has the edge as its offer price is Rs 12 higher than that by the Zuari-UB combine.

If Deepak Fertilisers' offer becomes successful, the Mallya-led UB group would have to hand over the control of the MCF to Deepak Fertilisers.

The MCF stock closed at Rs 88.10 on the Bombay Stock Exchange on Friday, nearly 20% higher than the previous day's close. Mehta-led Deepak Fertilisers holds 25.31% in MCFL, Poddar's ZFC holds 16.43% and the promoter UB group has a shareholding of 22.91%.

Commenting on the price revision, Deepak Fertilisers and Petrochemicals president and CFO Somnath Patil said, "Our average purchase price of MCF shares works out to Rs 78 per share. We feel that this is a fair representation of the value of MCF, considering its synergies with our business in terms of product portfolio and geographic spread, its infrastructure facilities and the potential for further growth. We see value creation opportunities over the medium to long term."

Earlier, the open offer launched by both Zuari Group firms and Deepak Fertilisers was cleared by the Competition Commission of India (CCI). The open offer will start on October 1 and close on October 17. The last date for an upward revision in the price or size was September 25.