BENGALURU: The ongoing tussle between the two retail giants Amazon and Future witnessed a new turn of events on Monday after the Delhi High Court lifted the status-quo on the $3.4 billion (Rs 24,713 crore) deal with Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) for Future Retail.
The court, while providing interim relief to Kishore Biyani’s Future Group, also did not accede to Amazon’s request to keep the order in abeyance for a week so that the e-tailer could explore alternatives.
The fresh order came in response to an appeal filed by FRL against last week’s single judge Delhi High Court ruling which asked the debt-ridden firm to maintain a status quo on its deal with RIL.This had effectively stalled FRL’s attempts to sell its logistics, retail, warehousing arms to Mukesh Ambani’s firm.
India’s market regulator Securities Exchange Board of India(SEBI) and competition watchdog Competition Commision of India (CCI) have already approved the deal. SEBI had also directed FRL to approach the National Company Law Tribunal and disclose the contentions by Amazon with respect to the deal.
Amazon, on the other hand, is seeking enforceability of Singapore’s emergency arbitration award in India stating that the same can be implemented under Section 17 of the Arbitration Act, which the Delhi HC upheld last week.
However, on Monday, the e-tailer received a fresh jolt after a two- member bench said that the court cannot stop the regulators. Amazon earlier told the court that Kishore Biyani had taken Rs 500 crore from the e-tailer and assured it that its consent will be taken if FRL enters into any share holding agreement with the companies.It also contended that in 2019, Amazon bought a 49 per cent stake in Future Coupons, a promoter firm of FRL with conditions that FRL will not sell its stakes to rival firms.
Delhi HC rules on FRL petition
The fresh order came in response to an appeal filed by FRL against last week’s Delhi High Court ruling asking it to maintain a status quo on its RIL deal.