Amazon Seeks to Bury Legal Battle Over Indian Partner’s Assets
(Bloomberg) -- Amazon.com Inc. and its sparring partner Future Retail Ltd. will hold talks to resolve a dispute over the sale of the latter's assets to Reliance Industries Ltd., a move that could end a bitter litigation that delayed payments to bondholders and deepened losses for Future's former-billionaire founder.
During a Supreme Court hearing Thursday, Future's lawyers agreed to a suggestion from Amazon's lawyer to explore an out-of-court resolution. Reliance will be included in the talks.
“Nobody is winning in all this,” Future Retail's lawyer Harish Salve said. “It will be in everybody's interest to resolve.”
The battle between Amazon and Reliance to dominate India's billion-plus-people retail market intensified after cash-strapped Future Retail sought to sell some of its assets, including stores and warehouses, to Reliance in a $3.4 billion deal. Amazon said the transaction violates its contract with another Future group firm.
As a fallout of the litigation that's played out in multiple courts in India and Singapore, Amazon faced actions by Indian regulators and an anti-money laundering probe, while Future missed debt obligations, faces prospects of bankruptcy, and its founder Kishore Biyani accrued losses.
Reliance meanwhile has begun taking over 200 stores from the struggling Future Group by renegotiating leases with the landlords and transferring 30,000 workers from the Future Retail and Future Lifestyle operations, according to a local media report on Sunday.
The Supreme Court on Thursday adjourned hearing on the case to give time for talks and asked both sides to report progress on March 15.
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