Future Retail has filed a new case against global ecommerce giant, Amazon, in a bid to seek clearance for its $3.4 billion retail assets sale. Earlier this month, the Indian company had a setback when the Supreme Court said the interim decision by the Singapore arbitrator in October 2020 was valid in India. This interim decision had put Future Retail’s deal with Reliance Industries on hold. The court also said Future could not appeal a lower court’s decision against it.
Now the Future Group, in its over 6,000-page filing, according to Reuters, argued that if the deal with Reliance doesn’t go through, it would cause unimaginable damage to the company, including possible job losses for 35,575 employees, and put at risk about Rs 280 billion in bank loans and debentures. “There is extreme urgency to hear this petition,” Yugandhara Pawar Jha, Future counsel, said in the Supreme Court filing.
On February 2, 2021, a single bench of the Delhi High Court had directed Future Retail Ltd to maintain status quo in relation to its Rs 24,713 crore deal with Reliance Retail, which was objected to by the US-based Amazon. Justice JR Midha said the court was satisfied that an immediate interim order was required to be passed to protect the rights of Amazon. Then on March 18, the court upheld the Singapore Emergency Arbitrator’s (EA) order restraining Future Retail Ltd from going ahead with the Rs 24,713 crore deal with Reliance Retail to sell its business, which was objected to by Amazon. And Justice Midha directed Kishore Biyani-led FRL not to take further notice on the deal with Reliance and held that the group willfully violated the EA’s order. Moreover, the high court rejected all the objections raised by Future Group and imposed.
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Amazon has about 49% stake in Future Group’s Future Coupons Ltd.
