Beautiful Virgin Islands

Wednesday, Aug 27, 2025

Ambani vs Bezos: Reliance's retail ambitions hit Amazon roadblock

Ambani vs Bezos: Reliance's retail ambitions hit Amazon roadblock

Reliance Industries' aggressive expansion, fueled by investments from big global names, has hit a speed bump with Jeff Bezos's Amazon.com winning an interim injunction on an important retail acquisition.

Singapore's international arbitration court on Sunday put on hold a multibillion-dollar deal for Future Group's retail assets by Reliance, the conglomerate led by Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani.

The first legal fight over the Indian retailer between two of the world's richest men, Bezos and Ambani, who rank first and seventh respectively on Forbes Real-Time Billionaires List, ended in Bezos' favor.

"We are grateful for the order which grants all the reliefs that were sought," Amazon said in a statement Tuesday. "We remain committed to an expeditious conclusion of the arbitration process," the company added.

Amazon, which holds a 49% stake in a Future Group arm, Future Coupons, had accused Future Group of breaching terms of a contract that stated that the brick-and-mortar retailer would need the U.S. e-commerce giant's consent if it planned to raise money or sell a stake to another company.

A source at Amazon's Indian unit said the agreement was that Future Group should keep Amazon "in the loop if they are planning to raise funds or selling a stake to certain companies. There was a list of five to six companies, including Reliance Industries, that Amazon had drawn [up]."

Amazon reached out to Future Group several times when it heard about the stake sale plans to Reliance, but never heard back, the source told Nikkei Asia.



This is just one part of the battle for supremacy in India's retail market, which is expected to continue to grow. The market, which was worth $950 billion in 2018, is expected to swell to $1.75 trillion by 2026 according to India Brand Equity Foundation.

Reliance came out the winner of an apparent bidding war to buy Future Group's retail and wholesale business as well as logistics and warehouse operations for 247.13 billion rupees ($3.37 billion) through Reliance Retail Ventures, the conglomerate's retail arm.

Future Group, which originated as a stonewashed-fabric seller in the 1980s, has been a leader in the development of India's modern retail industry. It now has over 1,500 stores in more than 400 cities in Asia's third-largest economy. Founder and CEO Kishore Biyani has been widely known as India's Sam Walton, founder of Walmart.

Sources had told Nikkei that Future Group was also in stake sale talks with Amazon as well as private equity companies. For both Bezos and Ambani, who have been looking to expand in the Indian retail market, Future Group was looked at as the key to growth due to its extensive customer base and store presence.

Ambani, who made his fortune in the oil and petrochemical businesses he inherited from his father, has in recent years positioned digital and retail businesses as new growth drivers for his conglomerate.



"It is the best proxy for the consumption story of India," he told shareholders at last year's annual general meeting. "Today, we are the only Indian retailer to be ranked in the Global 100 top retailers. Over the next five years, our aim is to be amongst the world's top 20 retailers."

For his part, Bezos, who had pumped over $6 billion into Amazon's India venture, pledged an additional investment of $1 billion over the next five years when he visited the country in January amid protests from local small traders and an antitrust inquiry into allegations of predatory pricing and unfair trade practices.

"We will use Amazon's global footprint to enable $10 billion in exports of Indian products to the rest of the world by 2025. Our investments in India will create an additional 1 million jobs across the country by 2025," Bezos had said on Amazon India's website.

In August, Amazon bought a 49% stake in Future Coupons for 15 billion rupees. Through the stake in Future Coupons, Amazon picked up a 7.3% stake in Future Retail, a listed unit of Future Group.

Reliance appears undeterred by the interim injunction in Singapore, which still has to be ratified by an Indian court. Reliance Retail said it intended to complete the transaction in accordance with terms of the deal and agreement with Future Group "without any delay."

Future Retail informed the Indian stock exchange on Monday that "in any enforcement proceedings, [Future Retail] would take appropriate steps to ensure that the proposed transaction will proceed unhindered without any delay."



Amazon sought to block it because it knows Reliance could deliver a blow to the U.S. e-commerce giant through shorter delivery times and deep discounts, said TRA Research CEO N. Chandramouli.

"Amazon wants to future-protect itself. If they don't do it now it will be very late because Reliance will become a behemoth because of this combination [with Future Group]," Chandramouli said.

But he said he does not expect Ambani to be defeated by the injunction. "There is no setback to Mukesh Ambani's stature. He will try and make it work through whatever way possible, including legally."

There is also the possibility all three sides can reach an agreement on the sale.

"It will have to be a mutually agreed deal and that will suit everybody's interest. All the three parties will try to come to a settlement and of course, it may take some time and there may be a lot of bargaining and negotiation," H.P. Ranina, a senior Supreme Court lawyer, told the Economic Times.

As for Future Group's Biyani, the deal with Ambani is a do-or-die situation. "We got into a trap to be very honest with COVID-19. In the first three to four months, we lost nearly 700 billion rupees of revenue," Biyani said this month. "We did too many acquisitions in the last six-seven years... I thought there was no other answer but to exit."

Future Group's representatives had argued before arbitrator V.K. Rajah that if the transaction fell through, Future Retail would go into liquidation and over 29,000 people would lose their livelihoods, according to Reuters. But Rajah ruled that "economic hardship alone is not a legal ground for disregarding legal obligations."

Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
Spotify’s Strange Move: The Feature Nobody Asked For – Returns
Manhunt in Australia: Armed Anti-Government Suspect Kills Police Officers Sent to Arrest Him
China Launches World’s Most Powerful Neutrino Detector
How Beijing-Linked Networks Shape Elections in New York City
Ukrainian Refugee Iryna Zarutska Fled War To US, Stabbed To Death
Elon Musk Sues Apple and OpenAI Over Alleged App Store Monopoly
2 Australian Police Shot Dead In Encounter In Rural Victoria State
Vietnam Evacuates Hundreds of Thousands as Typhoon Kajiki Strikes; China’s Sanya Shuts Down
UK Government Delays Decision on China’s Proposed London Embassy Amid Concerns Over Redacted Plans
A 150-Year Tradition to Be Abolished? Uproar Over the Popular Central Park Attraction
A new faith called Robotheism claims artificial intelligence isn’t just smart but actually God itself
Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner Purchases Third Property Amid Housing Tax Reforms Debate
HSBC Switzerland Ends Relationships with Over 1,000 Clients from Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Qatar, and Egypt
Sharia Law Made Legally Binding in Austria Despite Warnings Over 'Incompatible' Values
Italian Facebook Group Sharing Intimate Images Without Consent Shut Down Amid Police Investigation
Dutch Foreign Minister Resigns Amid Deadlock Over Israel Sanctions
Trump and Allies Send Messages of Support to Ukraine on Independence Day Amid Ongoing Conflict
China Reels as Telegram Chat Group Shares Hidden-Camera Footage of Women and Children
Sam Nicoresti becomes first transgender comedian to win Edinburgh Comedy Award
Builders uncover historic human remains in Lancashire house renovation
Australia Wants to Tax Your Empty Bedrooms
MotoGP Cameraman Narrowly Avoids Pedro Acosta Crash at Hungarian Grand Prix
FBI Investigates John Bolton Over Classified Documents in High-Profile Raids
Report reveals OpenAI pitched national ChatGPT Plus subscription to UK ministers
Labour set to freeze income tax thresholds in long-term 'stealth' tax raid
Coca‑Cola explores sale of Costa coffee chain
Trial hears dog walker was chased and fatally stabbed by trio
Restaurateur resigns from government hospitality council over tax criticism
Spanish City funfair shut after serious ride injury
Suspected arson at Ilford restaurant leaves three in critical condition
Tottenham beat Manchester City to go top of Premier League
Bank holiday heatwave to hit 30°C before remnants of Hurricane Erin arrive
UK to deploy immigration advisers to West Africa to block fake visas
Nurse who raped woman continued working for a year despite police alert
Drought forces closures of England’s canal routes, canceling boat holidays
Sweet tooth scents: food-inspired perfumes surge as weight-loss drugs suppress appetites
Experts warn Britain dangerously reliant on imported food
Family of Notting Hill Carnival murder victim call event unmanageable
Bunkers, Billions and Apocalypse: The Secret Compounds of Zuckerberg and the Tech Giants
Ukraine Declares De Facto War on Hungary and Slovakia with Terror Drone Strikes on Their Gas Lifeline
Animated K-pop Musical ‘KPop Demon Hunters’ Becomes Netflix’s Most-Watched Original Animated Film
New York Appeals Court Voids Nearly $500 Million Civil Fraud Penalty Against Trump While Upholding Fraud Liability
Elon Musk tweeted, “Europe is dying”
Far-Right Activist Convicted of Incitement Changes Gender and Demands: "Send Me to a Women’s Prison" | The Storm in Germany
Hungary Criticizes Ukraine: "Violating Our Sovereignty"
Will this be the first country to return to negative interest rates?
Child-free hotels spark controversy
North Korea is where this 95-year-old wants to die. South Korea won’t let him go. Is this our ally or a human rights enemy?
Hong Kong Launches Regulatory Regime and Trials for HKD-Backed Stablecoins
China rehearses September 3 Victory Day parade as imagery points to ‘loyal wingman’ FH-97 family presence
×