Future Retail on Friday informed the stock exchanges that it has secured 85.9% shareholder votes in favour of the proposed ₹24,713 crore deal with Reliance Industries.
However, majority of secured creditors voted against the deal. 69.29% of them voted against proposed deal with Reliance, according to an exchange filing.
Future Retail’s lenders include Union Bank of India, Bank of India, Bank of Baroda, State Bank of India, Indian Bank, Central Bank, Axis Bank and IDBI Bank.
Kishore Biyani’s Future Group is currently in a long feud with e-commerce major Amazon which is contesting the deal of the former with Mukesh Ambani-backed retail arm.
The shareholders and creditors meeting was convened on the direction of NCLT. Earlier, Jeff Bezos-backed Amazon stated that the meetings were ‘illegal’.
In a 16-page letter to Kishore Biyani and other promoters on April 12, the US e-commerce giant said such meetings are illegal and would not only breach 2019 agreements when Amazon made investments into FRL’s promoter firm but also violate a Singapore arbitral tribunal’s injunction on the sale of retail assets to Reliance.
However, Future Group companies said the meeting of equity shareholders and creditors “is as per directions and order of NCLT Mumbai Bench.”
In the last week of February, Reliance took possession of hundreds of stores run by Future Retail after terminating their leases. Somewhat incensed by this, lenders on 15 March published an advertisement stating that anybody dealing in the company’s assets should keep in mind that these are subject at all times to the charge of the lenders.
In August 2020, Reliance Retail agreed to buy Future Group’s retail, wholesale, logistics and warehousing assets on a slump sale basis for ₹24,713 crore.
The cash-strapped Future Group is trying to expedite the deal to pay creditors and save the Big Bazaar retail chain from possible collapse, even as it battles Amazon, which has sought to block the sale in various courts.
