The future of Indian supermarket company Future Retail Ltd hangs in the balance, relying heavily on whether or not the company can sell its assets to Reliance Industries, the group revealed to a Singapore arbitrator.
Looking to sell several of its businesses to Reliance for a fee of $3.38 billion, Future Retail Ltd currently finds itself in a legal battle against Amazon.com Inc, the American retail giant with whom it entered into a separate deal last year.
Amazon won an injunction to halt Future Retail Ltd’s asset sales to Reliance Industries on Sunday. This came after Amazon argued that their 2019 agreement with FRL stipulates that the latter company may not sell its assets to anyone on a “restricted persons” group. This includes the businesses belonging to Reliance Industries chief Mukesh Ambani.
In response to the arbitrator’s decision, both FRL and Reliance have reiterated their desire to reach a deal without delay. A successful deal would see Amazon and Reliance go head-to-head as two of the largest retailers worldwide.
A failure to close a deal with Reliance Industries would have devastating consequences on FRL, including the possible retrenchment of more than 29,000 workers.
