Founder and CEO of Future Group, Kishore Biyani has alleged that Amazon was unwilling to help Future Group despite being approached eight times for support. Speaking to the Economic Times, at a time when the Future Group and Amazon are locked in a legal battle over Reliance Retail's acquisition of the Future Group's retail assets, Biyani added that the US e-commerce giant was unwilling to financially support the group even after lenders invoked share pledges.

Biyani, who ended up selling the retail stores, warehousing and logistics businesses to Reliance Retail Ventures (RRVL), the retail arm of Mukesh Ambani-controlled Reliance Industries (RIL), for Rs 24,713 crore last year,said Reliance Retail came as a “saviour” and alleged Amazon is trying to derail the acquisition by Reliance Retail as the Bezos led company wants the Future Group to ‘languish.’

“As part of the agreement, they could have provided us funds through affiliates or financial institutions by taking over loans from existing lenders but they never did despite the agreement clause and our request,” Biyani was quoted as saying in the report.

The entire drama began in August after Reliance Retail Ventures Limited (RRVL), a subsidiary of RIL, announced that it is acquiring the retail, wholesale, logistics and warehousing business from the Future Group as going concerns on a slump sale basis for a lump sum aggregate consideration of Rs 24,713 crore, subject to adjustments as set out in the composite scheme of arrangement.

In October, an arbitration court in Singapore had directed a temporary stay on Future Retail's buyout by the RIL-led Reliance Retail after e-commerce giant Amazon.com, which acquired a 49 percent stake in Future Coupons, stepped in and said that the Future Group violated a contract with it by entering into the sale agreement with the Mukesh Ambani-led retail major.

Future Group countered this by filing a caveat in the Delhi High Court and urged the Indian stock exchanges, the BSE and the NSE, to process its application for the deal with Reliance Retail, as the arbitrator's order does not restrict market regulator Sebi or the exchanges from considering and approving the scheme.

The Delhi High Court ruled that Amazon was entitled to make representation(s) to any authority, which by itself will not constitute unlawful means or any tortious interference.

At the same time, the Court also said that FRL’s board resolution dated Aug 29, 2020, was neither void nor contrary to Indian laws, and therefore the resolution approving the proposed scheme of arrangement between Future Group and Reliance was in accordance with Indian laws and cannot be intervened with.

-with agency inputs

Disclosure: Network18, the parent company of CNBCTV18.com, which is controlled by Independent Media Trust, of which Reliance Industries is the sole beneficiary.

First Published:Jan 4, 2021 10:59 AM IST