SEBI Gives Conditional Approval To Future-Reliance Deal

SEBI gives conditional approval to the Future-Reliance deal, Amazon gets a deep shock. Amazon has suffered a major setback in the deal between Future Group and Reliance Industries (RIL).

Market regulator SEBI has given its approval to the deal between Future Group and Reliance Industries. The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) issued a letter on Wednesday conditionally giving its approval. BSE has not made any adverse comments on this deal on its own behalf.

In August 2020, Kishore Biyani and Future Group announced a Rs 25,000 crore deal with Reliance Retail. Under the deal, Future Group was to sell its retail, wholesale, logistics, and warehouse business to Reliance Retail Ventures Limited.

These two companies have received a major relief from the seal of SEBI on the Rs 24,713 crore deal between Reliance and Future Group. Significantly, the US e-commerce giant Amazon has been consistently opposing the deal.

Amazon wrote several letters to SEBI, stock exchanges, and other regulatory agencies to protest the deal. In the letters, Amazon had requested not to allow the deal. Bypassing Amazon’s request, Sebi has approved the deal with some conditions.

The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has already approved the deal. Now with the approval of SEBI, approval of NCLT is yet to be received. SEBI has also ordered full details of the deal to be shared with Future shareholders.

SEBI’s approval on the Future-Reliance Group deal will depend on the outcome of the cases pending in the court.

The Future Company Board had approved the proposal of a Rs 24,713 crore deal to sell the property to Reliance Retail, which was declared valid by the Delhi High Court in a December 21 verdict.

The court found the deal between Future Retail and Reliance Retail to be prima facie legal.

Amazon bought a 49% stake in Future Coupons in 2019 for Rs 2,000 crore.

Amazon filed a petition against the Future-Reliance deal at the Singapore International Arbitration Center. The arbitration center banned the Future-Reliance deal on October 25 last year, but Future says the arbitration center’s decision does not apply to it.

Reliance Retail Ventures Ltd (RRVL), a subsidiary of Reliance Industries, announced the acquisition of Future Group’s retail and wholesale business and logistics and warehousing business in August this year.