INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Future and Amazon did not respond to emails seeking comment.Dispute settlement talks between Amazon.com Inc and India's Future Retail
failed over the United States group's demand for the return of at least $200 million it had invested in the Indian firm, two sources
said.Amazon has for months blocked the $3.4 billion sale of Future's retail assets to rival Reliance, announced in 2020, citing a breach
Future denied any wrongdoing, and hopes had risen recently of an out-of-court settlement after Amazon and Future agreed to talks.On Tuesday,
the two sides told India's Supreme Court, which is hearing the dispute, the talks had collapsed, and Amazon took out newspaper ads
criticising both Reliance and Future.Two sources with direct knowledge of the settlement talks told Reuters that Amazon representatives
informed Future the dispute could end if the United States company could get back at least $200 million it invested in a Future unit in
2019 - the transaction at the heart of ongoing legal disputes.Future instead offered a stake of an equivalent amount in one of its remaining
group companies after Reliance takes over most of its retail assets, saying it was financially distressed
But Amazon did not accept that, the sources said.Future and Amazon did not respond to emails seeking comment.One of the sources said there
were more factors at play during the talks, but Amazon's demand for the return of investment was the "bare minimum" the United States
company wanted.The settlement talks were triggered after Reliance, India's biggest retailer, stunned Amazon when it began taking over key
Future Retail outlets on Feb
25 with its staff suddenly showing up at many of Future's biggest stores to assume control, in what was seen as a de facto
takeover.Earlier on Tuesday, Amazon ran large ads in leading Indian newspapers headlined "PUBLIC NOTICE" and alleging actions taken by
Reliance and Future had been "done in a clandestine manner."Future, which has $4 billion in overall debt, has said it is staring at
insolvency if its deal to sell retail assets to Reliance fails.
