Future Retail-Reliance deal gets SEBI approval

By

Maverick Martins

Published
Jan 21, 2021

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has given its approval to the Future Retail and Reliance Retail Ventures deal despite the objections raised by e-commerce giant Amazon.
 

In August 2020, Biyani had entered into a Rs 24,713 crore ($3.4 billion) agreement with Reliance Retail. As part of the pact, Future Group was to sell its retail, wholesale, logistics, and warehouse businesses to Reliance Retail Retail Ventures (RRVL).
 
The SEBI, in its letter of approval, listed conditions in accordance with the Composite Scheme of Arrangement. The regulatory body has also referred to the apprehensions raised by Amazon.

"Company shall ensure that the shares of the transferee entity issued in lieu of the locked-in shares of the transferor entities is subjected to lock-in for the remaining period post scheme," SEBI stated.

"Company shall ensure that proceedings pending before SEBI against the entities part of the promoter/promoter group or are directors of the companies involved in the scheme, should be highlighted in the scheme document filed before National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT)," it further added.
 
Amazon, which had invested Rs 1,400 crore in Future Group in 2019, had written to SEBI several times asking the regulatory body to stall the Future-Reliance deal. The deal has also been approved by the fair-trade regulator the Competition Commission of India.