Most of Future Retail Limited’s Big Bazaar stores remained shut throughout the weekend along with its online operations, with Reliance Retail all set to reopen them as Reliance brand stores the next week. Reliance is prepping the takeover of the flagship supermarkets by Future, for missed lease payments. Future’s e-commerce mobile app and website were also not available for online ordering. “We regret to inform you that currently stores are non-operational for 2 days,” Big Bazaar responded to a Twitter user who complained about a closure.

Reliance is rebranding the Future stores after the company failed to make payments to Reliance, sources told Reuters. While Future has more than 1,700 outlets, Reliance will rebrand 200 of the retail company’s Big Bazaar stores. The remaining stores will continue to be run by Future Retail.

Reliance is in the process of taking stock, re-branding, and transferring 30,000 Future Retail and Future Lifestyle employees on to the rolls of its manpower and staffing firm Reliance SMSL, according to a report. The first tranche of stores are set to be opened as early as in the next two days.

Reliance had transferred leases of some of the stores of Future to its name and sublet them to Biyani’s firm; however since Future was not able to pay the lease rent, Reliance is now taking over. Reliance has offered store staff jobs on existing terms. Earlier, Future had told stock exchanges that the company was “scaling down its operations”.

The backstory

The recent move is significant as it is followed by many failed efforts by Reliance since 2020 to close a $3.4 billion deal to acquire the retail assets of Future. Future’s partner Amazon has blocked the deal from going through using its 49 per cent stake in Future Coupons Pvt Ltd (FCPL), which is a shareholder in Future Retail.

Amazon has been maintaining that Future violated the terms of a 2019 deal in which it had invested $200 million in Future Group. The matter is in dispute before the Supreme Court and Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC).

Reliance Retail Ventures had extended the timeline for completing its Rs 24,713 crore deal with Future group to March 31, 2022, with no clearance on the regulatory and judicial side.

In a regulatory filing by Future Retail, the firm had maintained that it would be “co-operating for completing the monetisation of the specified business”. However, “due to ongoing litigations with Amazon.com NV Investment Holdings LLC, the company was not able to complete the planned monetisation of the Specified Business as contemplated in OTR Plan to discharge the aforesaid obligations to banks/Lenders, on the due date.”