Add Amazon.com Inc. to the list of companies that have been outmanver by Mukesh Ambani’s Juggernaut. He not only destroyed the US giant in the struggle to dominate the Indian retail sector, he now holds all the cards in the $ 3.4 billion dogfight to buy local cash retailers.
Ambani Reliance Industries Ltd. At the end of February calmly began to hunt employees and took over renting hundreds of stores that had been run by retail of the future Ltd. And Future Lifestyle Fashions Ltd., even when Amazon angrily tries to block formal acquisitions through lawsuits and arbitration. India and Singapore. Coup without Ambani’s blood forced Amazon to seek the settlement of bitter disputes and investors and future lenders who were worried about stripping assets.
“We did not expect the reliance group to take such drastic action, even without discussing this issue with us,” Head of Retail Financial Officer in the future Chandra Prakash Toshniwal wrote in March 2 letter to rely on retail units. “Please confirm that there will be no reduction paid by consideration.”
Other letters, March 5 – Bloomberg has a copy of the two letters – sent with a future lifestyle disclosed “worries and shock” and request dependency not to take such actions “can be seen seriously by everyone. Current and fixed assets” from the company. The bank can cut the future credit path, paralyze what is left of a retailer who has been starving in cash, the letter said.
The future group of Kishore Biyani-led was caught in the upheaval between the two large companies after Amazon objected to the reliance August 2020 offer to buy retail stores and retail warehouses in the future for 247.1 billion rupees ($ 3.4 billion). The American e-commerce giant said the agreement violated the 2019 agreement with other future group companies because of flying retail in the future, which had missed debt obligations and faced the risk of bankruptcy.
The future group runs the largest retail food chain in India before the attacking pandemic, making it aqueous target for two of the richest men in the world – Ambani and Amazon’s Jeff Bezos – because they are jostling to control the only billion-plus consumer market where foreign companies can compete.
Representatives for reliance, Amazon and future groups do not immediately respond to email requests that are looking for comments on the letters.
The fate of future group investors, including Blackstone Inc. and L Catterton, and lenders now associate as dependence, the future and the Amazon spurred the settlement outside the court on March 15, when they need to report progress to the Indian Supreme Court to India.
