E-commerce major Amazon on Wednesday said it will acquire Prione Business Services — its joint venture firm with Catamaran — subject to requisite regulatory approvals.

In August, Amazon and Catamaran — promoted by N.R. Narayana Murthy — decided to terminate their joint venture in May 2022 when the agreement comes up for renewal. Prione Business Services was formed in 2014 .

The two parties had not disclosed the reason behind the decision. Cloudtail — a wholly-owned subsidiary of Prione Business Services — is one of the biggest sellers on the Amazon platform.

“Amazon will acquire Catamaran’s shareholding in Prione in compliance with applicable laws including all assets and liabilities. The businesses of the JV shall continue under the leadership of the current management and on receipt of regulatory approvals, the board of Prione and Cloudtail will take steps to complete the transaction,” Amazon said.

While Amazon did not share further details, sources said it has approached the CCI for approval of the deal.

The move comes at a time of a greater scrutiny on the operations of e-commerce marketplaces in India that have foreign investments.

In 2020, fair trade regulator CCI ordered a probe against Amazon and Walmart-owned Flipkart for alleged malpractices, including deep discounting and tie-ups with preferred sellers on their platforms.

Trader bodies like CAIT have also contended that such practices by these companies have severely impacted the business of offline retailers.

In 2018, the government had introduced stricter norms for e-commerce marketplaces with foreign investments, mandating that they do not sell products of their group companies on their platforms.

ED charges

Amazon on Wednesday filed a writ petition in the Delhi high court seeking clarifications on the scope of Enforcement Directorate's (ED) investigations into alleged foreign exchange violations by the company, according to sources.