Amazon has warned Future Retail Ltd (FRL) against holding shareholders and creditors meetings next week to approve the sale of its retail assets to Reliance Retail, according to a news report.
FRL has scheduled the meetings on April 20 and 21 after the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) in February had allowed it to go ahead and convene those meetings to consider a scheme of arrangements to sell its assets to Reliance Retail.
Amazon has said such meetings are illegal and would not only breach 2019 agreements when Amazon made investments into FRL’s promoter firm but would also violate a Singapore arbitral tribunal’s injunction on the sale of FRL’s assets to Reliance Retail, Economic Times reported.
“Any person or entity assisting FRL, (promoter firm Future Coupons Pvt Ltd) FCPL or the promoters in violating these valid and binding injunctions will be liable for consequences, severally and jointly, under law at their own cost and peril,” Amazon said in a letter.
An emergency arbitrator of the Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC) had in October 2020 restrained FRL from going ahead with its deal with Reliance Retail until the arbitration centre finally decides on the outcome of the Amazon’s petition.
Last month, FRL told the stock exchanges in a filing that it has decided to call the first meeting of equity shareholders on April 20 and it will be followed by meetings of secured and unsecured creditors the next day.
“We are distressed to note that the promoters, FCPL and FRL are still intent on moving forward with the scheme with the (Mukesh Dhirubhai Ambani) MDA Group, which constitutes a continuing non-compliance of the order of the duly constituted arbitral tribunal which is enforceable as any court order,” said the Amazon letter on Tuesday.
