Future Group opts for mediation over Amazon’s legal notice on Reliance deal
NEW DELHI: US online retailer Amazon.com Inc has slapped a legal notice on Future Group, alleging that the retailer’s Rs 24,713 crore asset sale to Reliance Industries violated an agreement with the e-commerce giant.
“We have initiated steps to enforce our contractual rights,” a spokesperson for the Seattle-based e-commerce giant said. “As the matter is sub-judice, we can’t provide details.”
Amazon last year bought a 49 per cent stake in one of Future’s unlisted firms, Future Coupons Ltd, with the right to buy into flagship Future Retail after a period between 3 and 10 years. Future Coupons owns a 7.3 per cent stake in Future Retail.
In August this year, Future reached an agreement to sell its retail, wholesale, logistics and warehousing units to Reliance
The deal is awaiting regulatory approvals. A source who is advising Future Group in this matter said Future Coupons received the notice from Amazon. The person added the Kishore Biyani-led group intends to settle this matter amicably, either through mediation or arbitration. E-mail send to Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) and Future Group did not elicit any response. The development comes at a time when Reliance Retail Ventures Ltd - run by
India’s richest man Mukesh Ambani - has been on a fund raising spree, bringing in well over Rs 37,700 cr from global investors including Silver Lake, KKR, General Atlantic.
Meanwhile, Amazon India on Thursday launched its largest specialised fulfilment centre in Karnataka with a storage capacity of over 1.2 mn cu feet. Launched ahead of the festive season, the centre is specialised to store and manage orders from the large appliances and furniture category.