Future Group-Reliance Industries Deal On Hold As E-Commerce Giant Amazon Wins Interim Relief |SIAC

Issuing an emergency order on a plea from global e-commerce giant Amazon, the Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC) Sunday restrained Future Group and Reliance Industries Limited from proceeding with the Rs 24,713-crore deal signed in August for Future Retail to sell its retail, wholesale, logistics and warehousing units to Reliance Retail and Fashionstyle.

Legal sources told The Indian Express that the order, issued by an emergency arbitrator of SIAC, will be valid for the next 90 days until an official arbitration panel is appointed.

They said that although Indian laws do not recognise the concept of international arbitration and emergency orders issued by such tribunals, the orders are usually “respected” by business houses.

However, Reliance Retail Ventures Ltd, a unit of RIL, said that it intends to “enforce its rights and complete the transaction in terms of the scheme and agreement with Future group without any delay”. The Future Group did not respond to queries from The Indian Express seeking comment.

“We welcome the award of the emergency arbitrator. We are grateful for the order, which grants all the reliefs that were sought. We remain committed to an expeditious conclusion of the arbitration process,” said a spokesperson for Amazon, which had objected to the deal citing contractual violations by the Future Group in an earlier agreement with it.

#Reliance #Amazon #FutureGroup

Subscribe to Swarajya on YouTube.

Get a Swarajya subscription: https://subscriptions.swarajyamag.com/join-us

Website: https://swarajyamag.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/SwarajyaMag
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/swarajyamag