NEW DELHI (Reuters) – India’s top court on Friday ruled that Future Retail’s $3.4 billion deal to sell its retail assets was bound by an arbitrator’s order that put the transaction on hold, in a big boost to partner Amazon which had sought to block the deal.
Amazon and Future had been locked in legal battles https://www.reuters.com/article/us-amazon-com-india-future-reliance-idUSKBN2AM0HN over the deal, with the U.S. firm accusing the Indian group of violating pre-existing contracts when it sold its assets to rival Reliance Industries. Future has denied any wrongdoing.
The Supreme Court said that an order by a Singapore arbitrator in October – that put the deal on hold after finding merit in Amazon’s objections – was valid.
Amazon had argued that the order is binding, while Future had argued it was not.
(Reporting by Abhirup Roy and Aditya Kalra; Editing by Sanjeev Miglani)
