Reliance’s $3.4 Billion Deal With Future Group Temporarily Halted

(Bloomberg) -- An Indian court has temporarily restrained Future Group firms from selling its assets to Reliance Industries Ltd., an interim win for Amazon.com Inc. that’s waging a fierce battle to dominate the only billion-people-plus retail market left after it lost ground in China.

The Delhi High Court on Tuesday ordered the Future Group and Indian authorities to ensure the status of the indebted Indian retailer’s assets are maintained as it is, putting on hold any further steps toward completing the $3.4 billion sale to billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance conglomerate. Amazon alleges that the deal violates its own contract with the Future Group and had filed an urgent petition last week seeking the suspension. The order can be challenged in a higher court.

The freeze bolsters the Jeff Bezos-led e-commerce giant, which had also urged the court to jail Future Group’s founder and seize its assets for violating an October order from the Singapore arbitration court. The cash-strapped Indian retailer -- it risks bankruptcy if the deal with Reliance fails -- is caught between two of the world’s richest men as they compete for dominance in India’s estimated $1 trillion consumer retail market.

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The court said it was of the prima facie view that the order of emergency arbitration tribunal in Singapore that asked Future Retail to not proceed with the deal is enforceable in India.

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