Kishore Biyani is the CEO of Future Group. (File)
Amazon.com Inc., which is trying to prevent India’s richest man from taking over a struggling retail chain, has fired a fresh shot by alleging that money from the local company has may be transferred to other companies.
Future Retail Ltd. transferred 70 billion rupees ($939 million) in the year ended March 2020 as an advance to a company controlled by founder Kishore Biyani and as payment for goods and services. service was purchased from the company involved, Amazon said in a letter. by Bloomberg News. Future Retail also made unusual rental guarantees and advances to suppliers totaling 43 billion rupees in the same year, even as business slowed and stores closed. Amazon said.
“A significant number may have been diverted away from Retail in the future,” Amazon said. By settling at least part of these transactions, Future Retail is able to “immediately repay a portion of the outstanding debt to banks and creditors to ensure business continuity and survival.” ,” it added.
A Future Retail representative said via email that these transactions were part of the company’s public disclosure, excluding false speculations created out of selection. excerpt.” An Amazon India representative declined to comment.
The American giant has marked a copy of its letter to the finance minister, central bank governor, capital markets regulator and other authorities, seeking an investigation.
An investigation would risk delaying Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries Ltd.’s planned takeover of Future Retail, making it difficult for the tycoon to increase his footprint. Ambani and Amazon are locked in a battle for domination of the world’s largest market open to foreign competition, with a spat unfolding in courts in India and abroad, as well as between governing bodies of the country.
The November 24 letter comes as India’s antitrust authority is hearing a petition from Future Retail to revoke regulatory approval for a 2019 deal between one of its subsidiaries. their conglomerate and an Amazon unit, say the US retailer lied to regulators. Amazon said Future Retail’s plan to sell its stores to Amazon rival Reliance in breach of its 2019 partnership agreement, while the indebted Indian conglomerate said it would collapse if the transaction failed.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and was automatically generated from the feed provided.)
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