Reliance not interested in a tripartite JV with Amazon, Future Group

On March 3, Supreme Court had adjourned the case between Future Group and Amazon for ten days (till March 15) as the two agreed to the proposal to resolve the dispute through mediation

Reliance Industries (RIL) is not interested in going ahead in a tripartite joint venture (JV) between itself, Future Group and Amazon, according to sources in the know.

According to media reports, a deal on the table includes a tripartite JV between the three parties.

However, the sources did not confirm if meetings have begun between the three parties, adding that so far RIL has not made any presentations.  

On March 3, Supreme Court (SC) had adjourned the case between Future Group and Amazon for ten days (till March 15) as the two agreed to the proposal to resolve the dispute through mediation.

Harish Salve, Future Group’s counsel, agreed to the proposal and said that nobody is winning. SC also said, “If you want to fight legally, you do, and we will decide. But we only thought about the interests of the parties.”

In the meanwhile, Future Enterprises will hold meetings with its shareholders and creditors in April after the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) passed an order allowing Future Group companies to convene and conduct meetings of its shareholders and creditors to seek their approval for the scheme which allows Future Group to sell its retail, logistics and warehousing businesses to RIL for almost Rs 25,000 crore, a deal it signed in 2020.

In a stock exchange filing, Future Enterprises said that it will hold a meeting of members of the company on April 20 and a meeting with its secured and unsecured creditors of the company will take place on April 21.

On February 15, the SC granted Future Retail the option to seek from the Delhi High Court permission to continue proceedings at the NCLT on its deal with RIL.

RIL is in the process of transferring over 30,000 Future Retail and Future Lifestyle employees and has also taken over 400 Future Group stores that are now being re-branded as Reliance stores. These stores were sub-leased to Future Group by RIL, and are now being taken over by the latter on default of rent by Future Group.

A source had earlier said that in 2020 landlords had begun to terminate the lease agreements with Future Group and several landlords approached Reliance Industries and the lease for those stores were signed with the Mukesh Ambani-run company and were then sub-leased to Future Group. The debt-ridden retail chain has over 1,700 stores across various brands, which include Big Bazaar, fbb, and Central.

In a stock exchange filing on February 26, Future Retail said that it received termination notices for significant number of stores due to huge outstanding dues, and it would no longer have access to such store premises. “The company is scaling down its operations which will help us in reducing losses in the coming months. The company is proposing to expand its online and home delivery business, to increase its reach to the customers,” the Kishore Biyani-led company said in its stock filing.