The independent directors of Future Retail on November 7 sent a letter to the Competition Commission of India (CCI) asking the antitrust watchdog to revoke the approval given to Amazon's acquisition of Future Coupons in 2019. "It is clear that Amazon has concealed facts, made misrepresentations and false representations to the Commission," the directors wrote. The Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) on November 8, based on the arguments made by the independent directors', wrote its own letter asking CCI for the same. 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 in favor of Amazon, rejecting Future Retail’s plea to be excluded from the ongoing dispute. The court said 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…
