Amazon Asks Antitrust Body To Revoke Reliance-Future Deal Approval
Amazon has asked the antitrust body to revoke the approval of the Reliance-Future deal.
According to a letter seen by Reuters, Amazon has urged the antitrust regulator to rescind its permission for Future Retail’s $3.4 billion sale of retail assets to Reliance, claiming that it was “illegally obtained,” in violation of an order halting the deal.According to a letter issued by Amazon.com Inc to the Competition Commission of India (CCI) last week, the clearance for the purchase was a “nullity in the eyes of law” because an arbitrator’s order was still in effect.
The fight for supremacy in India’s growing, nearly trillion-dollar retail business pits two of the world’s wealthiest men, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and Reliance Industries CEO Mukesh Ambani.The winner of India’s second-largest retailer and Amazon’s estranged local partner, Future Retail, would take the lead in the quest to address the daily requirements of more than a billion people.Requests for response from the CCI, Amazon, Future Group, and Reliance were not returned.
Future claims the arbitrator’s suspension order is unconstitutional, but Indian courts have refused to overturn it.It would be a big blow for oil-to-telecom company Reliance if the regulator agrees with the previously disclosed letter.Last year, Amazon obtained an injunction against the sale from a Singapore court, arguing that Future had breached contracts prohibiting it from transferring the assets to firms such as Reliance.However, the CCI later approved the purchase.
In a letter dated Wednesday, Amazon claimed that Future misled the CCI and continued to seek clearance for the deal, calling the injunction a “brazen attempt to violate the rule of law.”Amazon requested a personal hearing with the CCI in order to present its case.
The letter comes as Amazon fights charges that it lied about facts and withheld information in order to get antitrust approval for a 2019 acquisition with Future Group.Amazon has so far been successful in using the terms of this agreement to stymie Future’s deal with Reliance.
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