Reliance Retail Ventures said it intends to complete the transaction with Future group without any delay.
Amazon.com on Sunday won an interim award against its partner Future Group as a Singapore-based single-judge arbitration court restrained Future Retail from selling its retail business to Reliance Industries for Rs 24,713 crore. The indebted Kishore Biyani group company had earlier signed a pact to sell retail, wholesale, logistics and warehousing units to Mukesh Ambani.
Passing an interim award in favour of Amazon, V K Rajah asked the Future group to put the deal on hold and said that the deal cannot go through until it finally decides the matter, sources with direct knowledge of the development said.
Commenting on the development, RIL retail arm Reliance Retail Ventures Limited (RRVL) said it has been informed about the interim order passed by the emergency Arbitrator in the arbitration proceedings and intends to complete the transaction with Future group without any delay.
"Reliance Retail Ventures Limited (RRVL) is informed of an interim order passed by the Emergency Arbitrator in the arbitration proceedings invoked by Amazon under a shareholders' agreement with the promoters of Future group. RRVL has entered into the transaction for acquisition of assets and business of Future Retail Limited under proper legal advice and the rights and obligations are fully enforceable under Indian Law. RRVL intends to enforce its rights and complete the transaction in terms of the scheme and agreement with Future group without any delay, Reliance Retail said in a statement.
Amazon last year bought a 49 per cent stake in one of Future's unlisted firms, Future Coupons, with the right to buy into Future Retail for a period ranging from three years to 10 years. Future Coupons owns a 7.3 per cent stake in Future Retail.
However, in August, Reliance Retail decided to buy retail, wholesale and some other businesses of Future Group. On August 29, 2020, the Future group announced the sale of its retail, wholesale and logistic businesses to Reliance Retail Ventures Limited, the retail arm of Reliance Industries.
Reliance Industries' deal to acquire rival Future Group's retail business, coupled with its launch of JioMart earlier in May, were aimed at rivalling Amazon's local unit and Walmart's Flipkart in the huge retail market in the country.
Reliance Retail Ventures operates retail business spanning supermarkets, consumer electronics chain stores, cash and carry wholesale business, fast-fashion outlets and online grocery store JioMart. A host of global investors, including the likes of TPG, GIC, Silver Lake Partners, KKR and Mubadala, have invested in Reliance Industries' retail arm this year.
