Reliance-Future deal
Future Retail must take part in case against Reliance-Future deal filed by Amazon, says Singapore panel: Report
Singapore: Future Retail cannot avoid being part of the arbitration process over a commercial dispute with Amazon.com Inc, a Singapore arbitration panel ruled on Wednesday, Reuters reported.
The Singapore arbitrator rejected the Indian retailer's attempt to avoid the process by stating that Amazon had initiated it incorrectly under a contract it signed with another Future group company, the report sid.
On August 29, 2020, Future Group had announced the sale of its retail and wholesale assets to Reliance Retail Ltd for Rs 24,713-crore.
In August 2019, Amazon had bought 49 percent stake in Future Coupons for Rs 1,500 crore.
Amazon said its 2019 deal with Future Group prevents it from selling the shares of Future Retail to RIL, its biggest rival in India, as the world's biggest e-commerce platform indirectly owns about a 3.5 percent stake in Future Retail.
On October 25, 2020, it won an injunction to halt the sale from the Singapore arbitrator that both the entities had agreed to use in case of a dispute.
In an order on Wednesday, which is not public but has been reviewed by Reuters, the panel disagreed with Future. It said the three agreements at the heart of the Future-Amazon dispute must be read together, and not separately, as Future argued.
The main arbitration proceedings will now begin in due course, people familiar with the matter said, according to Reuters.
Amazon is also fighting cases against the Reliance-Future deal in various Indian courts, including the Supreme Court.
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