After Delhi HC, Amazon Turns To Supreme Court To Stall Reliance-Future Deal

Ecommerce giant Amazon India, on Thursday, approached India’s Supreme Court as it continues its bid to block the deal for the sale of Future Group’s retail business Future Retail to Reliance Retail for over INR 24K Cr. 

In August 2020, Future had signed a deal for the sale of its retail, wholesale, logistics and warehousing businesses to Reliance Retail for INR 24,713 Cr. 

Soon after, in October, Amazon sent a legal notice to Future Group, accusing it of violating the non-compete contract between both parties, with the proposed deal for the sale of its businesses to Reliance. Amazon claimed that according to its contract with Future, the sale of a business to certain rival companies, including Reliance, was barred.

In 2019, the ecommerce giant had acquired a 49% stake in Future Coupons, the promoter entity of Future Retail, and through it, acquired a minor stake in Future Retail as well. 

Last week, a Delhi High Court order had halted the Reliance-Future deal. However, earlier this week, the court set aside the earlier order and allowed Future to go ahead with the deal, a move which Amazon has slammed as “illegal” and “arbitrary”. The company now plans to go to the apex court in the country to appeal against the decision of the Delhi HC. 

In its court filing, Amazon said it would face irreparable harm if the top court did not intervene. 

In its appeal to the SC, Amazon will argue that the temporary injunction against the Reliance-Future deal, which it had won from the Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC) in October last year, stays valid. 

Earlier in January, Biyani had said that the Reliance deal was a saviour for the company, its employees and stakeholders. He accused Amazon of leaving Future Group in a lurch, even though it only has a minor stake in the company. Biyani added that Future Group reached out to Amazon eight times in the past few months seeking financial help, but no support was provided.

So far, regulatory bodies such as the Securities and Exchange Board of India as well as the Competition Commission of India have given a go-ahead to the Future-Reliance deal. 

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