In response to a petition filed by the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT), the Delhi High Court on November 16 ordered the Competition Commission of India (CCI) to rule on revoking the approval given to Amazon's investment in Future Coupons within two weeks, CAIT said in a press statement. CCI counsel ASG Venkatraman said that the agency is contemplating calling Amazon on January 4 for a hearing after which the matter will be decided, but the court refused to wait till then. Recap: In November 2019, Amazon received approval to acquire a 49 percent equity in Future Coupons, the promoter entity of Future Retail, which operates 900 stores in India. Since Future Coupons owned a 7.3 percent stake in Future Retail, the deal gave Amazon a 3.58 percent stake in Future Retail. Then, in August 2020, Reliance announced that it will buy most of Future Group’s retail, wholesale, and logistics business in a deal worth Rs 24,713 crore. Amazon objected to this acquisition saying it had the right of first refusal because of its stake in Future Coupons. Both Amazon and Future have been engaged in a legal battle over this issue since October 2020, which you can read all about here. Most recently, on October 20, a Singapore arbitration court ruled that Future Retail is a party to the agreements signed between Amazon and Future Coupons and must participate in the arbitration process, which is set to begin sometime this month. Read Everything You Need To Know About The Amazon Vs Reliance And Future…
