Mallika Srinivasan, Lakshmi Venu seek fair TVS family assets' division; MoU covers brand rights, management

Mumbai: Mallika Srinivasan and her daughter Lakshmi Venu reiterated their commitment toward an early, fair and amicable resolution following ET's October 9 report on the fault lines that have emerged again within the family of Venu Srinivasan, patriarch of the TVS Group, over the distribution of family wealth and assets.

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, Mallika and Lakshmi said in the statement issued late Monday. The dispute has pitted Mallika and Lakshmi on one side against Venu Srinivasan and son Sudarshan Venu on the other.

Also read: Succession battle breaks out at TVS as camps disagree over business division, family MoU


The latest flashpoint, occurring just months after boardroom drama over key appointments and governance in group company Sundaram Clayton Ltd (SCL), put the spotlight on a two-year-old memorandum of understanding (MoU) involving the four family members - the parents and the children. Also key to the matter is a surge in the market cap of two-wheeler powerhouse TVS Motor, run by Sudarshan Venu, since the MoU.

"First, no economic settlement has been reached within the Venu Srinivasan family," read the statement.

'No Valuation Process Carried Out'

"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."

Venu Srinivasan and Sudarshan Venu didn't respond to queries.

ET had reported that Lakshmi and her mother had challenged the notion that the businesses and their ownership had been divided between the two siblings as part of a codified family settlement. They insisted that the MoU, effective March 21, 2024, only dealt with brand rights and management following the 2020 TVS family partition as well as non-compete clauses.

"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," their statement added.

According to them, 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.

Over the years, the two siblings have been managing their assigned businesses within the TVS Group. Lakshmi Venu has been managing SCL, first as joint MD and then as MD. Sudarshan Venu is chairman and MD of TVS Motor and also MD of TVS Holdings. Lakshmi Venu is also vice chair of Tractors and Farm Equipment Ltd (TAFE) since March 2025. Her mother Mallika Srinivasan remains chairperson and MD of the company. TAFE was founded by Mallika's grandfather S Anantharamakrishnan.

Mallika and Lakshmi Venu also said that references to TAFE in this context were misplaced.

"TAFE forms part of the Amalgamations Group, a separate family business group in which Mallika Srinivasan is a shareholder," they said. "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."

Arrangements, said the two, made unilaterally cannot be regarded as fair or consensual.

"The fundamental issue is not about management positions for which appropriate and commensurate compensation has been provided," they said. "It is about the fair recognition of rightful economic ownership, which remains unresolved."