Amazon moves NCLAT to challenge CCI order against Future deal

Amazon has filed an appeal in the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal against the CCI order that suspended the over two-year-old approval for its deal with Future Coupons Pvt Ltd, according to sources.

In December, fair trade regulator Competition Commission of India (CCI) had suspended the 2019 approval for Amazon’s deal to acquire a 49-per cent stake in Future Coupons Pvt Ltd (FCPL), Future Retail Ltd’s promoter, while slapping a penalty of Rs 202 crore on the e-commerce major.

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Amazon and Future have been locked in a bitter legal tussle after the US e-commerce giant dragged Future Group to arbitration at the Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC) in October 2020, arguing that FRL had violated their contract by entering into a deal for the sale of its assets to billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Retail on a slump sale basis for Rs 24,713 crore.

The NCLAT is an appellate authority for the orders passed by the CCI. According to sources, Amazon has moved the NCLAT and filed an appeal against the CCI order that was passed last month. Emails sent to Amazon and Future did not elicit any response. Last month, the CCI had suspended the Amazon-FCPL deal saying that the US e-commerce major had suppressed information while seeking clearances for the transaction back then.

In a 57-page order, the CCI had said the approval for the Amazon-Future Coupons deal shall remain in abeyance . Recently, Future Retail had also approached SIAC (Singapore International Arbitration Centre) to stay the arbitration proceedings based on the order passed by the CCI. It had also approached the Delhi High Court after the SIAC declined to stay the arbitration proceedings scheduled on January 5-8.

SIAC is adjudicating Amazon’s objections against Future Group’s Rs 24,713 crore deal with Reliance Retail Ventures Ltd, a subsidiary of Reliance Industries Ltd, announced in August 2020 for sale of the retail and wholesale business, and the logistics and warehousing business.