Singapore arbitration court rejects Future Retail’s plea to be excluded from Amazon case

A single-judge bench of V.K. Rajah gave an interim arbitration award that barred Future Retail from taking steps to dispose of or encumber its assets or issue any securities to raise funding from a restricted party.

Sources told Livemint that Future Retail approached the court, pleading it be excluded from an arbitration triggered after US-based ecommerce titan Amazon objected to Future Retail’s proposed divestment deal with Reliance Industries Limited’s retail arm.

Amazon owns a 49% stake in Future Coupons, an entity of Future Group’s retail business.

Future Retail and Amazon have not responded to queries from Livemint.

The development comes after the Competition Commission of India (CCI) approved Future Retail’s US$3.4 billion deal with Reliance Retail that was announced in August.

“Commission approves the acquisition of retail, wholesale, logistics and warehousing businesses of Future Group by Reliance Retail Ventures Limited and Reliance Retail and Fashion Lifestyle Limited,” the CCI said.

See Also: Reliance Retail intends to complete Future Group deal despite Amazon’s victory

Prior to the CCI approval, Amazon sent a legal notice to promoters of Future Group, claiming that Future Retail’s deal with Reliance “breaches the terms of its contract.”