India's Future Group shares fall after court decision on Amazon arbitration appeal (updated)

Future Lifestyle Fashions

05/01/2022 05:07

(Adds background)
    BENGALURU, Jan 5 (Reuters) - Shares in Future Group
companies fell on Wednesday, a day after an Indian court
dismissed Future Retail's  FRTL.NS  appeal to declare
arbitration proceedings with now estranged partner Amazon.com
Inc  AMZN.O  as illegal.
    Justice Amit Bansal at the Delhi High Court said on Tuesday
that Future's filings were dismissed, without giving any further
details.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N2TK20F
    Future Lifestyle Fashions  FLFL.NS , Future Consumer
 FTRE.NS , Future Retail and Future Enterprises  FURE.NS  fell
as much as between 3.6% and 5.8% in a marginally strong Mumbai
market.
    The Delhi court's decision is the latest legal twist in the
Future-Amazon saga and comes after Future urged a New Delhi
judge that given India's antitrust agency had suspended a 2019
deal used by Amazon to assert rights over Future, there was no
legal basis for the arbitration between the company and Amazon
to continue.
    Amazon had successfully for months used the terms of its
$200 million investment in Future in 2019 to block the Kishore
Biyani-owned company's attempt to sell retail assets to Reliance
Industries  RELI.NS , until the antitrust agency's suspension of
the 2019 deal last December.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N2T22QJ
    Since August 2019, when Amazon announced its investment in
Future, shares of Future Retail have slid about 87%.
    Future Group, Amazon and Reliance did not immediately
respond to Reuters requests for comment.

 (Reporting by Anuron Kumar Mitra in Bengaluru; Editing by
Shounak Dasgupta)
 ((AnuronKumar.Mitra@thomsonreuters.com; +91 99863 58469))