BackFuture-Reliance deal 'illegal and arbitrary': Amazon tells Supreme Court
The Delhi High Court had on Monday stayed an order on status quo of the deal and ruling that statutory authorities cannot be restrained from acting in accordance with the law
PremiumAmazon on Thursday approached the Supreme Court against Future Group's $3.4 billion retail assets sale to Reliance Industries. The E-commerce giant termed a Delhi High Court judgment revoking a previous single judge decision blocking the deal "illegal" and "arbitrary", reported Reuters.
The Delhi High Court had on Monday stayed an order on status quo of the deal and ruling that statutory authorities cannot be restrained from acting in accordance with the law. The order is, however, an interim one and the next hearing is on 26 February.
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Amazon has said that the company will face "irreparable harm" is SC does not intervene to block the verdict. "The more progress made to complete Future-Reliance deal, the harder it will be to unravel it," said Amazon.
The HC's order on came over an urgent petition moved by FRL after a single-member bench directed maintaining status-quo over Future's deal with Reliance.
The scheme of arrangement has already received approval from CCI and no objection from SEBI and bourses, following which it had approached NCLT Mumbai on 26 January.
Last month, Amazon had approached the Delhi High Court seeking enforcement of the interim order of the Emergency Arbitrator (EA) at the Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC) that had restrained FRL from going ahead with the deal with Reliance.
Why is Amazon feuding with Future Group, RIL?
The legal spat between Amazon.com Inc. and its Indian partner began when the e-commerce giant alleged that Future violated a partnership contract with the asset sale to its rival.
Future denies any wrongdoing and says it would collapse if the transaction fails.
The Jeff Bezos-led e-tailer accuses Future and its founder Kishore Biyani of flouting an interim order in October from a Singapore arbitration court that halted the asset sale.
Amazon also recently asked an Indian court to jail Biyani and has petitioned local regulators not to approve the Future-Reliance deal while the arbitration is underway.
The fight is essentially for the dominance of India’s estimated $1 trillion consumer retail market. Future Group is caught in the middle of this tussle between companies helmed by two of the world’s richest men, Bloomberg had reported.
Amazon had bought 49% in one of Future’s unlisted firms last year, with the right to buy into the listed flagship Future Retail Ltd. after a few years. But the retailer ran into a severe cash crunch when India went into a lockdown in March to curb the coronavirus outbreak.
In May, Amazon was considering increasing its stake in Future Retail, people familiar with the matter said at the time. But no such transaction materialized quickly and Future cut a deal with Reliance, infuriating Amazon. The U.S. firm claims that its contract with the unlisted Future unit barred a transaction with a number of persons and companies, including Ambani and Reliance.
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