Amazon fights for its ‘rights’ in the Future Retail-Reliance deal – sends legal notice to the Kishore Biyani Group
Oct 8, 2020, 10:24 IST
- Amazon has said that it was denied the Rights of First Refusal for the deal with Future Group.
- In August, the Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance had acquired Future Group’s assets by way of a ‘slump sale’.
- Amazon in 2019 had picked up a 49% stake in Kishore Biyani’s Future Group’s – Future Coupons for ₹1,431 crore.
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Global e-commerce giant Amazon has sent a legal notice to Future Coupons over Future Group’s deal with Reliance. Amazon has said that it was denied the Rights of First Refusal for the deal with Future Group. In August, the Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance had acquired Future Group’s assets by way of a ‘slump sale’. However, even then speculations were rife about what happens to Amazon’s previous partnership with Future Coupons.
Amazon in 2019 had picked up a 49% stake in Kishore Biyani’s Future Group’s – Future Coupons for ₹1,431 crore. As part of the agreement, Amazon had been granted a call option. This option allows Amazon to acquire all or part of the promoters' shareholding in Future Retail and can be exercised in three or ten years.
“We have initiated steps to enforce our contractual rights. As the matter is sub-judice, we can’t provide details,” Amazon said in a statement.
With the matter now having taken a legal turn, Amazon could pose a major hurdle in the completion of the Reliance and Future Group deal. Earlier, it was reported by several publications that Amazon was in talks with Reliance for a 40% stake in Ambani’s retail venture.
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Additionally, Amazon and Samara Capital are investing ₹275 crore ($37.5 million) into MORE – the retail chain the duo had acquired from Kumar Mangalam Birla’s Aditya Birla Group, according to filings sourced by financial data platform paper.vc.
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