Amazon has complained to India’s markets regulator that its local partner Future Retail misled shareholders by incorrectly saying it was complying with its contractual obligations to the U.S. e-commerce giant, a letter seen by Reuters shows.
Amazon is locked in a bitter legal dispute with Future Group, which in August sold its retail assets to Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries for $3.4 billion. The deal, Amazon alleges, breaches 2019 agreements by Future.
The tussle has strained Amazon’s ties not just with Future Retail but also with Mr. Ambani, Asia’s richest man, and his Reliance group, which is fast expanding its e-commerce business and threatening companies like Amazon.
Amazon last Sunday won an injunction to halt Future’s deal with Reliance from a Singapore arbitrator both sides had agreed to use in case of disputes. The Indian retailer then said in a news release it had complied with all agreements and “cannot be held back” by the arbitration proceedings.
‘Against public interest’
In the letter to the Securities & Exchange Board of India (SEBI) Chairman Ajay Tyagi on Wednesday, Amazon said Future’s release and stock exchange disclosures violated Indian regulations and urged SEBI to probe the matter and not approve the deal.
“Such a disclosure is against public interest, misleads public shareholders,” Amazon said.
