Amazon has written to the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) asking the market regulator to withdraw the conditional approval it has given to the proposed buyout of Future Group by Reliance Industries, Economic Times reported on August 30. The issue in question has been under the legal lens since October 2020. Reliance is vying to expand its retail offerings by acquiring Future Retail, but Amazon is trying to prevent this deal from going through. Future Group vs Amazon: Brief timeline of events November 2019 –Amazon acquired a 49 percent stake in Future Coupons, a promoter company that owns about 7.3 percent stake in Future Retail. August 2020 – Reliance announced that it will acquire most of Future Group’s retail, wholesale, and logistics business in a deal worth Rs 24,713 crore. Amazon objected to the Reliance deal in October 2020 saying that its agreement with Future Coupons had a non-compete-like pact and right of first refusal against deals with competitors like Reliance Retail. October 25, 2020 – Amazon obtained an emergency arbitrator’s award against the Future Retail–Reliance deal from a Singapore arbitration tribunal. March 18, 2021 – A single judge Justice JR Midha from Delhi High Court upheld the Singapore emergency arbitrator’s order against Future Group, putting on hold the Future–Reliance deal and attaching the properties of Future Group and its promoters Kishore and Rakesh Biyani. The court also imposed a cost of ₹20 lakh on Future Retail and its promoters and directed it to be deposited in the PM Cares Fund. March 22, 2021 – A…
