Future sold its retail assets to oil-to-clothes conglomerate
Reliance in August but Amazon said the deal breached agreements Future made
with the U.S. ecommerce leader in 2019.
The deal cleared anti-trust hurdles last month and if it
goes ahead will delay Amazon's goal of capturing India's massive groceries
market estimated to be worth around $740 billion a year by 2024, according to
Forrester Research.
"The present application is disposed of ..." the
High Court of Delhi said in its written order. "However, the Statutory
Authorities/Regulators are directed to take the decision on the
applications/objections in accordance with the law."
Justice Mukta Gupta noted in the verdict that Amazon cannot
be barred from writing to regulators on account of potentially irreparable
damage.
Amazon did not immediately respond to email seeking comment
while Future Group said in an exchange filing that they are in process of
reviewing the verdict and would submit a brief summary after consultation with
legal advisors.
Reliance and Future dominate India's grocery market, with
the next competitor, Avenue Supermarts Ltd's DMart, far behind in terms of
stores and reach.
"Even if money-wise Amazon can invest as much as
Reliance, you will need still time to build the infrastructure on ground,"
said Satish Meena, senior forecast analyst and team lead at Forrester, of
Amazon's grocery ambitions in the country.
"That is something that Amazon will need to do from
scratch or acquire or tie-up with other Indian grocery or retailers."
Future argued that an injunction to stop the asset sale won
by Amazon from a Singapore arbitrator that the sides had agreed to use in case
of dispute, was not binding, prompting Amazon to lodge a complaint with India's
market regulator.
Future is widely credited as transforming India's retail
sector in recent decades. However, the COVID-19 pandemic hit the business so
hard that founder Kishore Biyani sought a buyer.
0 comments:
Post a Comment