India's Future Retail must take part in Amazon dispute arbitration, Singapore panel says
Reuters
Published Oct 20, 2021 09:12AM ET
Updated Oct 20, 2021 09:46AM ET
By Aditya Kalra
NEW DELHI (Reuters) -Future Retail must take part in arbitration over a commercial dispute with Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ:AMZN), a Singapore arbitration panel ruled on Wednesday, rejecting the Indian retailer's bid to avoid the process.
Amazon is trying to block https://www.reuters.com/article/amazon-india-future-reliance-idUSKBN2871AM Future's $3.4 billion sale of its retail assets to Indian market leader Reliance Industries, accusing it of breaking contracts. Future denies any wrongdoing.
After the Singapore arbitrator put the deal on hold last year in an interim decision, Future argued it should be excluded from arbitration because Amazon had initiated it incorrectly under a contract it signed with another Future group company.
In an order on Wednesday, which is not public but has been reviewed by Reuters, the panel disagreed with Future. It said the three agreements at the heart of the Future-Amazon dispute must be read together, and not separately, as Future argued.
The three agreements were of "composite nature", "wide and comprehensive enough" and the tribunal "has jurisdiction over FRL (Future Retail) in this Arbitration," said the 69-page order.
Future and Amazon did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The main arbitration proceedings will now begin in due course, people familiar with the matter said.
The dispute started after Future, India's second-largest retailer with over 1,700 stores, entered into a deal last year to sell its retail, wholesale, logistics and certain other businesses to Reliance, after COVID-19 hit its operations hard.
Amazon had its sights on ultimately owning some of Future's retail assets itself. It has argued a 2019 deal it had with a Future unit contained clauses prohibiting the Indian group from selling its retail assets to anyone on a "restricted persons" list that included Reliance.
Amazon brought proceedings against Future before a Singapore arbitration panel, and the dispute is also being fought at various Indian legal forums.
The outcome of the tussle involving two of the world’s richest men, Amazon’s Jeff Bezos and Reliance’s Mukesh Ambani, could reshape India’s pandemic-hit shopping sector and help determine whether Amazon can blunt Reliance's dominance of India's almost one trillion-dollar retail market.
Get The News You Want
Written By: Reuters
Trading in financial instruments and/or cryptocurrencies involves high risks including the risk of losing some, or all, of your investment amount, and may not be suitable for all investors. Prices of cryptocurrencies are extremely volatile and may be affected by external factors such as financial, regulatory or political events. Trading on margin increases the financial risks.
Before deciding to trade in financial instrument or cryptocurrencies you should be fully informed of the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience, and risk appetite, and seek professional advice where needed.
Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. The data and prices on the website are not necessarily provided by any market or exchange, but may be provided by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual price at any given market, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Fusion Media and any provider of the data contained in this website will not accept liability for any loss or damage as a result of your trading, or your reliance on the information contained within this website.
It is prohibited to use, store, reproduce, display, modify, transmit or distribute the data contained in this website without the explicit prior written permission of Fusion Media and/or the data provider. All intellectual property rights are reserved by the providers and/or the exchange providing the data contained in this website.
Fusion Media may be compensated by the advertisers that appear on the website, based on your interaction with the advertisements or advertisers.