Future Retail, one of the nation’s top retailers, has been embroiled in a bitter dispute with Amazon over its $ 3.4 billion retail asset deal with Reliance Industries. Amazon is Future’s business partner and argues that the sale of the Indian firm’s assets violated some of its pre-existing agreements.
Amazon had complained to the stock exchanges, accusing Future of misleading the public by making incorrect market disclosures, allegations that the Indian group denies.
The complaint came after Amazon won on October 25 a court order from an arbitrator to stop the Future-Reliance deal.
Previously unreported emails exchanged between NSE and Future show that the stock exchange repeatedly asked the company to submit more details of the arbitration order, seeking details of the possible impact on Reliance’s finances, lenders and settlement.
On October 27, NSE asked Future why it had not disclosed the start of the arbitration proceedings and had not shared the impact of the order. Future in response said it believed a disclosure was not required.
NSE’s list compliance division rejected that argument. He demanded that a series of disclosures be made within hours, “if appropriate action cannot be taken,” the emails showed.
Future Retail’s company secretary Virendra Samani responded to most of NSE’s inquiries in a late-night email on Oct. 30, saying she was doing so “in the best interest of all stakeholders,” the submissions showed. .
Many of those responses were made public as directed by the NSE two days later in a six-page exchange presentation from Future.
Prior to that, Future had only filed a disclosure on Oct. 26 in which he attached a press release saying that he would ensure his deal with Reliance went smoothly and that he was reviewing the arbitration order.
NSE and Future Retail did not respond to requests for comment.
The legal dispute has now reached the Delhi High Court, where Future Retail has urged the court to prevent Amazon from writing letters to regulators to block its Reliance deal, which is pending approvals from the regulator of the market and stock exchanges. . The judge is expected to rule on the guilty plea in the coming days.
Amazon had separately asked the Indian market regulator to investigate Future for insider trading, saying it disclosed price-sensitive details of the arbitration order to Reliance before its exchange filing in late October.
Future has said that his communications with Reliance, which is run by Asia’s richest man, Mukesh Ambani, had a “legitimate purpose.”
NSE in emails at least twice asked Future Retail to provide a copy of the arbitration order to examine the disclosures, and also why it should not be disclosed as price-sensitive material information, emails between 27 and May showed. 30th of October.
Future’s Samani initially rejected the request, stating in an email that the request was “confidential in nature” and that sharing more information could be “damaging” to the company. A copy was provided after the NSE warning.
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