India court orders antitrust body to rule on Amazon-Future dispute within two weeks

Altex Industries

16/11/2021 09:30

By Aditya Kalra
    NEW DELHI, Nov 16 (Reuters) - An Indian court ruled on
Tuesday that the country's antitrust body has two weeks to
decide whether Amazon  AMZN.O  misled authorities while seeking
approval for a 2019 deal with India's Future Group, a group of
Indian retailers said.
    The Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) said in a
statement it had filed the case to the Delhi High Court on
Monday and the ruling was made on Tuesday. 
    Amazon and Future, India's second-largest retailer, have
been locked in a legal battle since last year https://reut.rs/3BV0tJG.
 The e-commerce giant successfully blocked Future's bid to sell
its retail assets to rival Reliance  RELI.NS  for $3.4 billion,
accusing its partner of breaching some pre-existing agreements.
    Future, which denies any wrongdoing and fears liquidation if
it fails to sell assets, has been arguing https://reut.rs/30sX0FI
 before the Competition Commission of India (CCI) that approval
for the 2019 Amazon deal should be revoked as the U.S. firm had
made misleading representations while seeking approval. Amazon
has said it is confident of addressing such regulatory concerns.
    On Tuesday, the CAIT said the antitrust body should not
delay deciding on the matter, which has ramifications for the
public interest and could hit their businesses if the
Future-Reliance deal fails.
    A two-judge panel said the CCI must decide on the dispute
between Amazon and Future within two weeks, the retailer group
said in its statement, adding that "traders should not be made a
scapegoat or suffer any financial loss."
    The CCI and Amazon did not respond to a request for comment.
    At the heart of the two companies' legal dispute is Amazon’s
deal to invest $200 million in Future Coupons, a unit of Future
Group, in 2019. 
    One person familiar with the case said on Tuesday it would
be unprecedented for the CCI to outrightly revoke a deal even if
there has been misrepresentations, but any decision could affect
the ongoing dispute.
    "If there's no (2019) transaction, there's no dispute
between Amazon, Future," said the source, who asked not to be
identified because the person was not authorised to speak to the
media.
    In July, Reuters exclusively https://reut.rs/3HkZhmN
reported that the CCI had reviewed a complaint from Future and
then accused Amazon of concealing facts while seeking approval
to invest in a Future Group unit in 2019, after the watchdog
compared legal disclosures made by Amazon at several forums. 
    Amazon told Reuters at the time that it was confident of
addressing the watchdog's concerns.
    

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India's Future discloses new documents to bolster case against
Amazon deal    https://www.reuters.com/article/amazon-india-future-idTRNIKBN2HZ088
 
Analysis: Battle of the billionaires - Bezos, Ambani gun for
India retail supremacy    https://www.reuters.com/article/amazon-india-future-reliance-idUSKBN2871AM
EXCLUSIVE-Indian agency seeks documents from Future on disputed
Amazon deal     urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2RZ1AQ
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 (Reporting by Aditya Kalra and Abhirup Roy; Editing by Ana
Nicolaci da Costa)
 ((aditya.kalra@tr.com; +91-11-49548021; Twitter @adityakalra;))