Key Points :
- Future Coupons owns a 7.3% stake in Future Retail.
- Our US online retailer Amazon.com Inc has framed and lapped a legal notice on Future
Group. - Kishore Biyani-led group intends and will go for settling this matter either through
mediation or arbitration, amicably.
Last year, Amazon bought a 49% 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% stake in Future Retail. Our US online retailer Amazon.com Inc has framed and lapped a legal notice on Future Group, alleging that the retailer's ₹24,713 crore asset sale to Reliance Industries violated an agreement with the e-commerce giant.
A spokesperson from the Seattle based e-commerce giant said, “We have initiated steps to enforce our contractual rights.”
He added,
“As the matter is subjudice, we can’t provide details”.
This year in August , Future reached an agreement to sell its retail, wholesale, logistics and warehousing units to Reliance. Though after the preparations this deal is awaiting regulatory approvals .A source who is the advisor, advising the Future Group in this matter told PTI that Future Coupons received the notice from Amazon. This person added to his statements saying that the Kishore Biyani-led group intends and will go for settling this matter either through mediation or arbitration, amicably.
On the other hand,
Reliance Retail’s network spans supermarkets, consumer electronics chain stores, cash and carry wholesale business, fast-fashion outlets and online grocery store, JioMart. It has a presence in nearly 7,000 towns, with 640 million footfalls across core categories of grocery, consumer electronics and apparels.
The investments like these equip Reliance Retail with funds to compete in both offline and online formats. The investments come as the country’s retail sector prepares for the upcoming festive season and would help Reliance to launch an assault on rivals such as Walmart-owned Flipkart and Amazon.
The source also highlighted the points that Future Group had made an offer to Amazon, along with other potential buyers, and the deal with billionaire Mukesh Ambani-led RIL was signed only after the e-commerce behemoth declined it. Such deal with Amazon was also finely conditional based on the government’s FDI policy permitting foreign multi-brand retailing firm. Here, the source also said that given there is no policy, they can’t invest, the source said adding Amazon is raising this issue almost a month after the announcement of the deal with Reliance.
August has been a month full of statements , information through the sources that include,
“Future Enterprises will subsequently sell by way of a slump sale the retail and wholesale business that includes key formats such as Big Bazaar, fbb, Foodhall, Easyday, Nilgiris, Central and Brand Factory to Reliance Retail and Fashion Lifestyle Limited (RRFLL), a wholly-owned subsidiary of RRVL," a Future Group statement had said on August 29.
In August again, Future Retail had informed stock exchanges that Amazon.Com NV Investment Holdings LLC would acquire 49% stake in Future Coupons from their promoters, led by Kishore Biyani, for an undisclosed amount. At that significant time Future Coupons held 7.3% stake in The Future Retail. As part of the agreement, Amazon was also granted a call option, which allowed the US e-commerce major an option to acquire all or part of the promoter’s shareholding between the third and tenth year.
