Reliance, Adani Group out of race for Future Retail

Reliance Retail Ventures and April Moon Retail, backed by the Adani group, have reportedly pulled out of the race for Future Retail (FRL). Out of the 48 companies which had shown interest in bidding for FRL, only six have submitted their resolution plans.

In an exchange filing, Future Retail announced that the interim resolution professional has received resolution plans from six prospective applicants in response to the Request for Resolution Plans issued on April 14, 2023.

These submissions were reviewed during a meeting of the Committee of Creditors of the Corporate Debtor on May 16, 2023, with the prospective applicants present, as stated in the filing.

Initially, 48 entities expressed interest in the acquisition through the Invitation of Expression (EoI) process. Among these entities were Reliance Retail Ventures led by Mukesh Ambani, April Moon Retail supported by the Adani group, WHSmith Travel Ltd from the UK, Jindal Power, JC Flowers Asset Reconstruction, and UV Stressed Asset Management.

But many of the 48 entities which had shown interest in acquiring the assets of Future Retail were non-serious players. Many of them were from sector completely unrelated to the sector that Future Retail operates in.

Some of the entities were from power and metal sectors and a good number of them were scrap dealers, waste management and recycling companies.

It’s worth mentioning that Reliance group has already taken control of 835 out of 1,500 Future Retail stores due to non-payment of rent. In 2021, Future entered into an agreement with Reliance to operate its retail stores.

The erstwhile Kishore Biyani group company was supposed to be transferred to Reliance Retail as part of a Rs 24,713-crore deal announced in August 2020. However, lenders rejected the takeover due to legal challenges from Amazon, which indirectly held stake in FRL.

The Mumbai bench of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) on 20 June 2022 admitted Bank of India’s plea to initiate corporate insolvency resolution process (CIRP) against FRL for defaulting on a payment of Rs 856 crore. 

Also See: Scrap dealers, waste management firms among 49 vying for Future Retail