The Delhi High Court has suspended the Future takeover agreement due to Amazon's discontent.
Delhi Supreme Court suspended a $ 3.4 billion deal to acquire Future's assets by Reliance Industries because Amazon claimed the deal was contrary to earlier agreements. According to the biggest American retailer, this contract contradicts the previously concluded contract between Amazon and Future Group.
The business asks the judge to declare the agreement invalid. Instead, Future believes that both agreements have a right to exist and do not contradict each other. Most likely, the latter will appeal to the court. Future is the second biggest retailer in India (1,700 shops). Earlier, the company said it wanted to sell retail assets to Reliance.
If the agreement fails, the company could suffer and go bankrupt. In 2019, Amazon and Future signed an agreement that included, among other things, that Future was not allowed to give its assets to several certain companies. Including in the list the Reliance company was specified. Half the world is watching the two richest people on the planet, Jeff Bezos and Mukesh Ambani, ar-guing with each other within their companies, of course (Amazon and Reliance). Who knows, maybe this situation will be the beginning of a new era, and Amazon will once again become the dominant retail company in India.
The court ruled in favor of Amazon, commenting that the rights of the American company should be protected. The judge noted that this decision is fully enforceable and makes sense. The judiciary has an inter-est in maintaining the status quo. The judge also ordered the state's lawyer to ensure that the decisions were made by all authorities related to the case in one way or another. The judge also stated that Future violated a previously concluded agreement. At the beginning of this year, Amazon claimed it would prefer the founder Future to be jailed and his assets frozen. Also, Amazon owns 49% of Future stocks, which in turn holds a 7.3% stake in Future Retail.
By the way, last month the Securities and Exchange Council of India allowed Reliance to purchase the retail assets of Future Group.
Source Reuters