India's Future discloses new documents to bolster case against Amazon deal

Future Enterprises

14/11/2021 10:28

By Aditya Kalra and Abhirup Roy
    NEW DELHI, Nov 14 (Reuters) - Independent directors at
India's Future Retail have disclosed new documents in a letter
to the country's antitrust watchdog aiming to bolster their case
against Amazon.com Inc  AMZN.O  as they seek to revoke a 2019
deal between the two companies.
    A 160-page stock exchange filing on Sunday showed the
directors reviewed records related to the 2019 deal between a
group unit, Future Coupons, and Amazon, and argued that
disclosures by the U.S. company before the Competition
Commission of India (CCI) when it sought approval of the deal
contradicted Amazon's own internal communications at the time.
    Amazon and the CCI did not respond to a request for comment
on the disclosure on Sunday.
    The two companies' legal dispute https://reut.rs/3BV0tJG,
centred around Amazon's deal to invest $200 million in Future
Coupons, has become a high-stakes battle which could determine
the dominant player in India's retail market in the years ahead.
    Amazon has successfully used the tie-up to block https://reut.rs/3H1WX48
 Future's attempted sale of retail assets to rival Reliance
 RELI.NS  for $3.4 billion, which the Indian company is banking
on to help keep its business afloat.
    According to the Sunday filing, Future's directors told the
CCI in a Nov. 10 letter that Amazon's intentions were not to
invest in Future Coupons because of its "unique business model
and strong growth potential", as it stated while seeking
approvals.
    Rather, an internal email from an Amazon India executive to
other senior Amazon executives, entitled "Future Retail Limited
Investment", said the U.S. firm was using a "'twin-entity
investment' structure to invest in Future Retail" due to Indian
law restrictions. 
    "The CCI has to revoke the approval granted for Amazon's
investment," the letter from Future's independent directors
stated.
    Their filing is the latest salvo in an escalating legal
battle.
    In July, Reuters exclusively reported https://reut.rs/3HkZhmN
 that the CCI had reviewed a complaint from Future and then
accused Amazon of concealing facts while seeking the 2019 deal
approval, after the watchdog compared legal disclosures made by
Amazon at several forums.
    The company told Reuters at the time that it was confident
of addressing the watchdog's concerns.
    India's financial crime-fighting agency has also ordered
Future - the country's second-largest retailer - to submit
documents related to the 2019 Amazon deal as part of an
investigation into possible breach of foreign investment laws,
Reuters reported last week https://reut.rs/3kcTdD2.

    <^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
EXCLUSIVE-Indian agency seeks documents from Future on disputed
Amazon deal     urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2RZ1AQ
Analysis: Battle of the billionaires - Bezos, Ambani gun for
India retail supremacy    https://www.reuters.com/article/amazon-india-future-reliance-idUSKBN2871AM
    ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^>
 (Reporting by Aditya Kalra in New Delhi and Abhirup Roy in
Mumbai; Editing by Edmund Klamann)
 ((aditya.kalra@tr.com; +91-11-49548021; Twitter @adityakalra;))