Favorable results for Amazon may derail preparations for sale of Rs 25,000 crore property of Big Bazaar parent Reliance Retail, TOI had reported that Future Group is likely to approach the National Company Law Tribunal.NCLT) to seek approval for the shareholders’ meeting on January 5 after a division bench of the Delhi High Court stayed the ongoing Amazon-Future arbitration proceedings before a Singapore tribunal.
In another setback for Amazon, CCI on December 17 temporarily suspended its approval for the e-tailer to buy 49% stake in Future Coupons (FCPL) in 2019, an unlisted Future Group company. .
Sources told TOI that the Seattle-headquartered company, which is locked in a bitter legal battle with Future Group over the proposed asset sale to Reliance Retail, took these steps on Saturday.
“The Division Bench had mentioned that they would hear about the consistency of hearing the matter in the next hearing but proceeded to issue notice. The single bench of the High Court had passed the order under a section which cannot legally be heard by the Division Bench and has to be heard only by the Supreme Court,” said a source.
Both Amazon and Future Group did not comment on this story. In the NCLAT, however, Amazon has also challenged the Rs 202-crore fine imposed by the antitrust watchdog for allegedly suppressing certain facts about its “real” motive behind its investment in FCPL, the matter regarding Three people I knew said.
Before the division bench in the Delhi High Court stayed the Singapore arbitration proceedings, Justice Amit Bansal in the Delhi HC had dismissed the petition filed by Future Group companies, seeking termination of the arbitration proceedings with Amazon. SIAC,
“He ordered the Singapore Tribunal to stop an arbitration hearing that was going on on the same day. It was unprecedented,” said the source.
CCI’s suspension of approval for Amazon’s FCPL investment assumes significance for the e-tailer as it was the only ground on which it was trying to stall the Future-Reliance deal. Amazon has claimed in legal courts that its investment in FCPL gave it a strategic right over FRL, as FCPL held a 10% stake in Future Group’s flagship company, FRL.
SIAC had in October 2020 passed an interim award in favor of Amazon, barring Future Group from proceeding with the sale of assets worth Rs 25,000 crore to Reliance Retail. Amazon pulled Futures into SIAC when the Futures-Reliance deal was announced for alleged breach of contract.
Future Group on December 30 approached the Delhi High Court after SIAC refused to entertain the retailer’s pleas to stay the arbitration proceedings before the final hearing begins this week.
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