Over a month since Reliance Industries announced it was acquiring the retail, wholesale, logistics and warehousing business of the Future Group, Amazon has issued a legal notice to Future alleging a breach of a non-compete contract, ET Now reported.
Amazon had, in August 2019, bought a 49 per cent stake in Future coupons for around Rs 1,500 crore. It has a 7.3 per cent stake in Future Retail. As per its legal notice, it alleges that Future Group did not meet the criteria of its deal with Amazon when signing the deal with RIL.
A source told ET Now that Amazon had certain contractual rights when it invested in the Future Group including a right of first refusal and a non-compete like pact.
With competitor Reliance now invested in Future, the non-compete pact could come into play.
Reliance Retail is awaiting the permission of the Competition Commission of India for its acquisition of the Future Group for Rs 24,713 crore.
In September, RIL denied being in talks with Amazon over selling a 40 per cent stake in its retail unit.
Through the deal, Reliance will acquire Future Retail that owns the BigBazaar that sells everything from groceries to cosmetics and apparel, and Future Lifestyle Fashions Ltd that operates fashion discount chain Brand Factory. While Reliance will takeover Future Consumer Ltd, which sells food, home and personal care products, Future Group's financial and insurance business is not part of the deal.
With inputs from PTI
