Arbitration filed by Amazon in SIAC to continue says Future Retail

FRL had raised objections to its inclusion as party to the arbitration.

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On Thursday, FRL said, “The company is in receipt of a communication dated 25th November, 2020 that the SIAC Court is prima facie satisfied that under Rule 28.1 of the SIAC Rules 2016, the arbitration shall proceed. Accordingly, an arbitrary tribunal would be constituted in the matter."

"This disclosure is being made out of abundant caution to avoid any speculation given Amazon’s media strategy of having every development reported and converted into a line of communication with stock exchanges," it added.

In October, a single-judge bench of V K Rajah had given an interim arbitration award, barring FRL from taking any step to dispose of or encumber its assets or issuing any securities to secure any funding from a restricted party.

On 29 August, Future Group, whose subsidiary, Future Coupons Pvt. Ltd (FCPL), has Amazon as a 49% stakeholder, announced a deal valued at ₹24,713 crore to sell its retail, wholesale and logistics business to RIL’s retail subsidiary. Through its stake in FCPL, Amazon indirectly owns around 5% in FRL. On 5 October, Amazon initiated arbitration proceedings before SIAC against the Future Group promoters—FCPL and FRL—and sought emergency relief with respect to the transaction with RIL.

Shares of Future Retail were locked in the 5% lower circuit to ₹86.55, while the benchmark index, Sensex gained 0.98% to 44259.74 points.