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Center-Center-DelhiMallika Srinivasan and her daughter Lakshmi Venu have said no economic settlement has been reached within the Venu Srinivasan family over the ownership of businesses and assets in the TVS Group, in a clarification on the ongoing family dispute.
“No economic settlement has been reached within the Venu Srinivasan family,” the two said in a joint statement.
The statement said the larger TVS family partition, agreed in 2020 and implemented subsequently, was carried out through a process involving all relevant stakeholders. No comparable process of transparent valuation, discussion and mutual consent has taken place for the economic interests within the Venu Srinivasan family, and no agreement dividing those interests has been concluded, it said.
The suggestion that all family assets belong exclusively to one individual, who is therefore free to distribute them unilaterally, is “neither an agreed nor an established position”, the statement said. It added that the dispute is not about management positions, which have been “compensated appropriately and commensurately”. “It is about the fair recognition of rightful economic ownership, which remains unresolved,” it said.
“Management responsibilities must not be confused with economic ownership. The allocation of leadership roles or opportunities to manage businesses does not constitute a division of family assets, nor can it substitute for the rightful economic interests of family members. Similarly, arrangements concerning trademarks, brand usage and non-compete obligations cannot be represented as an economic settlement when no such settlement formed part of those arrangements,” the statement said.
The statement also said references to Tractors and Farm Equipment Ltd (TAFE) in this context were misplaced. TAFE is part of the Amalgamations Group, a separate family business group in which Mallika is a shareholder. “TAFE has no bearing on the economic settlement within the Venu Srinivasan family and should not be conflated with it. Presenting her longstanding association and custodial role with TAFE as evidence of an equitable distribution of economic interests within the Venu Srinivasan family is fundamentally misleading,” it said.
The arrangements within the family were made unilaterally and cannot be regarded as fair or consensual, the statement said. “Any equitable settlement must recognise the legitimate economic interests of all concerned parties and be based on a transparent process of valuation, discussion and agreement.”
The two called for an early, fair and amicable resolution in the best interests of the family, its businesses and all stakeholders. “We remain committed to resolving these matters through constructive dialogue, with dignity, grace and equity,” the statement said.
