Family arrangement on track, TVS groups start makeover exercise

As part of the restructuring exercise, each family group will get complete ownership of the businesses they manage while scrapping the holding company

The four families running the TVS group have started reshaping their businesses over the past week following the new family arrangement.

As part of restructuring, each family will get complete ownership of the businesses it manages while scrapping the holding company.

It was in December 2020 that the families announced their plans to restructure the group.

TVS Sundaram Motors took the first move in this by selling an iconic property of 214,000 square feet with 89 grounds in Chennai. The company is reportedly in the final stage of talks with Prestige Group on this to sell it at around Rs 600 crore.

This was followed by two major announcements from the Venu Srinivasan wing on Monday and Thursday, with TVS Motor Company announcing that its Non-Executive Director Ralf Dieter Speth will take charge as chairman on April 1, replacing veteran Srinivasan, who will continue as managing director and be chairman emeritus on April 1.

This is earlier than the change of the guard planned for January 2023.

On Thursday, Sundaram-Clayton Ltd (SCL), a leading auto component manufacturing and distribution group and the holding company of TVS Motor Company, announced replacing Srinivasan with R Gopalan, non-executive independent director of the company, as chairman of the board from April. When he was in the Indian Administrative Service, Gopalan had served as secretary, Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance.

Another family led by fourth-generation TVS scion R Dinesh also announced the appointment of Ravi Viswanathan as managing director of TVS Supply Chain Solutions (TVS SCS), part of the Rs 15,000-crore TVS Mobility Group.

Dinesh will continue in his new role as executive vice-chairman. The company said the changes were in line with the company’s commitment to further integrate its businesses globally and leverage the growing demand for value-added supply chain management services in India. TVS SCS is set to come up with a more than Rs 3,000 crore initial public offering (IPO) in 2022-23.

Dinesh, the founder of the company, has been instrumental in driving its strategy and growth, including merger and acquisition, which he will continue to do.

Over the last two decades, TVS SCS has made a string of acquisitions.

“The organisation has a vision and these appointments will help in realising its potential and help the company cement its leadership as a technology-led global supply chain player,” said S Mahalingam, chairman, TVS SCS.

TVS Group’s amalgamation and arrangement got the nod from the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) early this month. More announcements are expected in the coming days.