Source:-https:\/\/www.timesnownews.com<\/p>\n\n\n\n
New Delhi: The Delhi High Court is all set to give its judgment on Monday (December 21) on Future Retail Ltd\u2019s plea to restrain online behemoth Amazon.com from writing letters to regulators against its asset sale with Mukesh Ambani-controlled Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The court will give its ruling at 10:30 am on Monday, Bloomberg reported.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Last month, the Competition Commission of India (CCI) had approved RIL\u2019s Rs 24,713-crore offer to acquire Future Group\u2019s retail assets. \u201cThe \u201cacquisition of retail, wholesale, logistics & warehousing businesses of Future Group by Reliance Retail Ventures and Reliance Retail and Fashion Lifestyle Limited,\u201d the regulator had mentioned in a tweet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It is worth mentioning here that the green signal given by the CCI was a huge jolt to the Jeff Bezos-controlled online retail major, which had argued that a 2019 pact it signed with Future prevented the Indian company from selling its retail assets to certain parties, including Reliance Retail.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Earlier, the Delhi HC on November 20 had reserved verdict a plea Future Retail Ltd (FRL) seeking to restrain Amazon from interfering in the Reliance Retail-Future deal on the basis of an interim order passed by the Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC). The Future Group and Amazon were at loggerheads after the American online titan took Future Retail into an emergency arbitration over alleged violation of the contract.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In November, Future Retail had alleged that Amazon adopted a media strategy of “having every development reported and converted into a line of communication with stock exchanges” regarding the Amazon-Future Coupons’ arbitration proceedings in Singapore.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201c\u2026this disclosure is being made out of abundant caution to avoid any speculation given Amazon\u2019s media strategy of having every development reported and converted into a line of communication with stock exchanges,\u201d FRL said in a regulatory filing mentioning the development.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In October, Amazon had won an interim award against the transaction between RIL and the Future group after a Singapore-based single judge arbitration panel put the transaction on hold. Amazon in last year August had bought 49 per cent in one of Future Group’s unlisted firms\u2014Future Coupons Ltd (FCL)\u2014with the right to buy into the listed flagship FRL after a period between 3 years and 10 years. Future Coupons owns a 7.3 per cent stake in Future Retail.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In August this year, the Kishore Biyani-led Future Group announced the sale of its retail and wholesale business to Reliance Retail, mentioning plans to merge key group companies, including Future Retail, Future Lifestyle Fashions, Future Consumer, Future Supply Chains and Future Market Networks into FEL.<\/p>\n