The Delhi High Court has rejected the stay on the deal between Future Retail and Reliance. The High Court single bench judge had stayed the deal. This halted the deal of Rs 24,713 crore between Future and Reliance. This decision of the Division Bench is a setback for Amazon, which challenged the deal between Future and Reliance. Amazon said that according to its agreement with Future, it has the right to ‘first refusal’.
In this, he asked the FRL and various statutory bodies to maintain the status quo. A bench of Chief Justice DN Patel and Justice Jyoti Singh gave this interim order during the hearing of the FRL’s petition challenging the single judge’s February 2 order.
The bench also rejected Amazon’s request that the court hold its order for a week, in the meantime, to consult it to take appropriate steps. The High Court stayed the order of February 2, saying that statutory bodies like National Company Law Tribunal, CCI and SEBI cannot be prevented from proceeding as per law in relation to the deal.
The court also issued a notice to Amazon and sought its favor on the FRL’s appeal by 26 February, after which a daily hearing would be held in the case. The Delhi High Court had asked to maintain status quo in relation to the deal of Rs 24,713 crore.
Amazon has approached the High Court to implement the interim order of the Emergency Arbitration Forum of Singapore on this deal. The tribunal had given an interim order to Future Future to stop its Rs 24,713 crore deal with Reliance Retail.
The entire case pertains to the acquisition of 49 per cent stake in Future Group company Future Coupons Ltd by Amazon in August last year for Rs 1,500 crore and the right to purchase the first stake in the group’s flagship company Future Retail. Future Coupons also has a stake in Future Retail. The controversy in this regard arose when Future Group entered into an agreement to sell its retail, warehousing and logistics business to Reliance Industries for about Rs 24,000 crore.
