E-commerce major Amazon has got a favourable ruling in Singapore in an arbitration it filed regarding the Reliance Retail's buyout of the debt-laden Future Group as the deal has been temporarily stalled.
A single-judge bench comprising V.K. Rajah SC, in an interim order, has directed the Kishore Biyani-led Future Group not to proceed with the deal with Reliance Retail for now. It has also barred Future Retail from offloading any of its assets or issuing any securities to raise funding from a ‘restricted party’.
"We welcome the award of the Emergency Arbitrator. We are grateful for the order which grants all the reliefs that were sought. We remain committed to an expeditious conclusion of the arbitration process," an Amazon spokesperson said.
Future Group did not immediately respond on the matter.
However, Reliance Retail Ventures said in a statement that it is informed of the interim order and that it entered into a deal with Future Retail under proper legal advice. It said in a statement that it intends to enforce its rights and complete the transaction in terms of the scheme and agreement with Future group without any delay.
“Reliance Retail Ventures Limited (RRVL) is informed of an interim order passed by the Emergency Arbitrator in the arbitration proceedings invoked by Amazon under a shareholders’ agreement with the promoters of Future group.”
“RRVL has entered into the transaction for acquisition of assets and business of Future Retail Limited under proper legal advice and the rights and obligations are fully enforceable under Indian Law,” the statement added.
In a surprising turn of events in acquisition of debt laden Future Group by Reliance Retail, Amazon earlier this month stepped in and said that Future Group violated a contract with it by entering into the sale agreement with the Mukesh Ambani-led retail major.
Last year, Amazon acquired a 49 per cent stake in Future Coupons, a Future group entity.
In August, Reliance Retail Ventures Limited (RRVL), a subsidiary of RIL announced that it is acquiring the retail, wholesale, logistics and warehousing business from the Future Group as going concerns on a slump sale basis for lump sum aggregate consideration of Rs 24,713 crore, subject to adjustments as set out in the composite scheme of arrangement.
The acquisition is part of the scheme in which the Future Group is merging certain companies carrying on the aforesaid businesses into Future Enterprises Limited (FEL).