TVS Family Dispute: No Economic Settlement Reached, Say Lakshmi Venu and Mallika Srinivasan

In a fresh development in the ongoing TVS family dispute, Lakshmi Venu and her mother, Mallika Srinivasan, have said no economic settlement has been reached within the Venu Srinivasan family over ownership of businesses and assets in the TVS Group.
“No economic settlement has been reached within the Venu Srinivasan family,” said a joint statement by Lakshmi and Mallika.
The larger TVS family partition, agreed in 2020 and implemented subsequently, was undertaken through a process involving the relevant stakeholders. No comparable process involving transparent valuation, discussion and mutual consent has taken place concerning the economic interests within the Venu Srinivasan family. No agreement dividing these economic interests has been concluded, it added.
“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 added.
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. It added that the fundamental issue 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.