In a major blow to Amazon, the NCLAT on Monday instructed Amazon to pay around Rs 200 crore—the penalty originally imposed by the CCI on the e-tailer for withholding facts, while it sought nod for the deal from the antitrust regulator—within 45 days.
“…the ‘Appellant/Amazon’ had not made full, whole, fair, forthright and frank disclosure of relevant materials and had furnished only limited details/disclosures, pertaining to its `acquiring strategic rights and interests’ over ‘FRL’, and executing `Commercial Contracts’ among itself and ‘FRL’…” said the NCLAT in its order.
An Amazon spokesperson did not comment for this story but sources told TOI that it currently has two options: approach the Supreme Court or apply for fresh approval from the CCI. Amazon is likely to take the first route.
While the CCI in 2019 had approved Amazon’s investment of Rs 1,500 crore to acquire 49% stake in FCPL, it suspended its decision in December on the basis of complaints by Kishore Biyani’s Future Group, FCPL’s parent.
In a multi-pronged legal battle with the Future Group, Amazon has used its investment in FCPL to block the Rs 24,700-crore Reliance-Future deal, claiming that the transaction gave it protective rights over Future Retail (FRL), the flagship Future Group company housing supermarket chain Big Bazaar among others.
While RIL called off the deal to acquire core parts of the Future Group in April as the latter’s secured creditors rejected the offer, the move left the Future Group staring at insolvency proceedings.
In February, however, Reliance had moved in to take control of hundreds of Future Group stores over non-payment of dues and rentals. The petroleum-to-fashion conglomerate had sublet these properties to the cash-strapped retailer. In addition, thousands of Future Group employees received offer letters from Reliance Retail.
A Future Group spokesperson did not comment on this story.
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