Reliance Industries extends timeline to complete multi-crore deal with Future Group

Reliance Retail Ventures, the retail arm of Reliance Industries, has extended the timeline for six months to complete its Rs 24,713 crore deal with the Future Group to buy its retail and wholesale business. The regulatory filing by Future Retail said that the timeline has been extended from March 31, 2021 to September 30, 2021.

“Pursuant to the provisions of scheme and other transaction documents executed in relation thereto, RRVL has in exercise of the right provided thereunder, extended the timeline for “Long Stop Date” from March 31, 2021 to September 30, 2021, which has been duly acknowledged by Reliance Retail and Fashion Lifestyle Limited, wholly-owned suibsidiary of RRVL,” it said.

Long Stop, according to PTI, an established practice in mergers and acquisition transaction is a timeframe in which parties agree on which all the conditions precedent for a transaction need to be fulfilled and the transaction completed. The deal, which is contested by Amazon, is facing legal hurdles and a decision from the Supreme Court is pending over the petition filed by the e-commerce major.

The Future-Reliance deal, which was announced on August 29, 2020 has already received clearance from regulators such as CCI, SEBI and bourses, and the scheme of arrangement is now awaiting the nod from the NCLT and shareholders. Though the Supreme Court has granted a go-ahead to the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) for its proceedings, but has asked it not to pass any final order sanctioning the scheme. As such, the NCLT has reserved its order over the scheme of arrangement in which all the Future Group’s retail assets would be consolidated under Future Enterprises Ltd and then would be transferred to RRVL through sale.

Last month, a Single Member Bench of the Delhi High Court directed the Future Group to stay the deal. However, this was challenged by the Future Group before the Division Bench of the Delhi High Court, which stayed the order of the Single Member Bench.

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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 Singapore International Arbitration Centre, arguing that the latter had violated their contract by entering into the deal with Reliance Industries.