NEW CASE AGAINST AMAZON IN INDIAN TOP COURT OVER $3.4 BLN DEAL

Sat 28 August 2021:

Future Retail filed a new case against Amazon.com Inc in India’s Supreme Court on Saturday, in the latest attempt to secure approval for its $3.4 billion retail assets sale, which the US company has disputed.

The conflict arose after Future, India’s second-largest retailer with over 1,700 outlets, including the famed Big Bazaar supermarkets, agreed to sell its retail businesses to Reliance last year after COVID-19 wreaked havoc on its operations.

Future was dealt a setback this month when the Supreme Court ruled that an interim ruling made by a Singapore arbitration in October 2020, halting its transaction with Reliance Industries in response to Amazon’s protest, was valid in India.

Future also couldn’t appeal a lower court’s judgment against it, according to the Supreme Court. Persons familiar with the case said, the shop is now seeking the Supreme Court to consider the case.

In its over 6,000-page filing, Future has argued that if the deal with Reliance doesn’t go through, it would cause “unimaginable” damage to the group, including possible job losses for 35,575 employees, and put at risk roughly 280 billion rupees ($3.81 billion) in bank loans and debentures.

“There is extreme urgency to hear this petition,” Future counsel Yugandhara Pawar Jha said in the Supreme Court filing, which is not public. Reuters has seen the filing.

Amazon has been at odds with Future for months, accusing the Indian company of breaching contracts while selling its retail holdings to market leader Reliance last year. Future is adamant in his denial of any wrongdoing.

The conclusion of the battle between two of the world’s wealthiest men, Amazon’s Jeff Bezos and Reliance Industries’ Mukesh Ambani, is expected to reshape India’s pandemic-hit retail sector and determine if Amazon can challenge Reliance’s near-trillion-dollar retail market supremacy.

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