New
Delhi:
Amazon's challenge against Future Group's $3.4 billion deal with Reliance
Industries will see a Supreme Court ruling today, concluding one of the most
bitterly fought battles in the world's only billion-plus retail market open to
foreign competition.
Here
is your 10-point guide to this big story:
1. Amazon had taken partner Future Group
to court saying it violated contracts by agreeing to sell retail assets to
market leader Reliance Industries last year for over ? 27,000 crore. Future
denies any wrongdoing.
2. Last week, the Supreme Court reserved
its judgement in the case and is set to decide whether a ruling by a Singapore
tribunal restraining Future from going ahead with its merger with Reliance is
valid.
3. A New Delhi court in February had
dealt a blow to the US firm by revoking a previous court decision that
effectively blocked the deal, and Amazon filed an appeal against it in the
Supreme Court soon after.
4. Amazon said in its court filing the
order by the Delhi court was “illegal” and “arbitrary” and the company which
has committed $6.5 billion in investments in India would face “irreparable harm”
if the top court did not intervene.
5. The legal fight over Future's assets
has embroiled two of the world's richest men - Amazon's Jeff Bezos and
Reliance's Mukesh Ambani. The final outcome will be seen shaping India's
pandemic-hit shopping sector and will determine if Amazon is able to dent the
dominance of Reliance.
6. Amazon has argued that a 2019 deal it
had with a Future unit included clauses saying the Indian group couldn't sell
its retail assets to anyone on a “restricted persons” list, including Reliance.
7. The US company had invested in Future
Group in 2019, acquiring a 49 per cent stake in Future Coupons Ltd, which holds
9.82 per cent in Future Retail.
8. Future, India's second-largest
retailer with over 1,700 stores, has said it will be pushed towards liquidation
if the deal falls through.
9. Meanwhile, India's antitrust
regulator has accused Amazon of concealing facts and making false submissions
when it sought approval for the 2019 investment in the Future Group unit, news
agency Reuters reported last month.
10. The Competition Commission of India
(CCI) letter, dated June 4, could complicate the legal battle for Amazon even
if the Supreme Court rules in its favour for now.
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