Amazon Accuses Future Group Of Insider Trading; Desperate Act To Stop Reliance-Future Group Deal?

Future Retail Ltd. has been accused of insider trading by Amazon Inc. and the e-commerce giant has also asked SEBI to investigate the matter.

Read on to find out all the details!

Amazon Accuses Future Group Of Insider Trading; Demands SEBI To Investigate

The US based e-commerce giant, Amazon Inc., has been demanding the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) to review the deal between Reliance and Future, which includes the sale of retail, logistics, and other assets by Future Group for $3.4 billion including debt.

Amazon is accusing Future Retail Ltd of insider trading. Amazon’s letter to SEBI claims that Future Retail revealed price sensitive details of an injunction to Reliance. This injunction was granted by a Singapore arbitrator to block the deal.

The letter states that Reliance, Ambani’s Group “was not a party to the arbitration proceedings … and could have received details related thereto only from FRL (Future Retail) or its Promoters.”

We all also know about Amazon’s dissatisfaction with the deal between its business partner, Future Retail, and its rival, Reliance Industries. 

As per Amazon, an agreement was made in 2019 with the Future Group wherein it was specified that reliance group’s assets cannot be sold to some particular parties, which included Reliance Industries Ltd. 

Future Group Asks Delhi Court To Restrain Amazon

The Future Group’s rebuttal states that the agreement made with Amazon last year was only with a separate Future Group unit. The company has issued a statement to the stock exchange, wherein it clarified that the arbitration order is being examined and the order will have to be tested by the Indian law. 

The Future Group has also said that the deal to sell its retail assets to Reliance was with the intention to recover from the drastic impact of the coronavirus pandemic. The company reportedly believes that it was crucial to protect all its stakeholders. The Future Group runs supermarkets and high end food stores with more than 1500 outlets across the country. 

Future Retail has also asked a court in New Delhi to restrain Amazon from asking Indian regulators to block the ongoing deal between Reliance. 

This is still a developing story, and we will keep you informed as we get any updates!