SV Ranganath interim chairman of Coffee Day Group after VG Siddhartha’s mystery death
Mangalore Today News Network
July 31, 2019: Hours after Cafe Coffee Day owner VG Siddhartha was found dead, the popular coffee chain has now appointed a new interim chairman.
The Coffee Day Group board of directors held a meeting on Wednesday and appointed SV Ranganath as the interim chairman of the board.
The company has appointed Nitin Bagmane as the interim COO and has constituted a three-member executive committee to exercise powers that were previously vested with VG Siddhartha.
The Coffee Day Group board has said it will also "explore opportunities to deleverage the Coffee Day Group".
In a letter issued after the meeting, the board said, "The board also took note of a message from Malavika Hegde (VG Siddhartha’s wife) expressing support and trust in the Company’s professional team and the common effort to look after the interest of the employees and all other stakeholders."
The letter also stated that the board "remains deeply committed to safeguarding the interests of all stakeholders, including investors, lenders, employees and customers."
According to the letter, the Coffee Day Group board is also conducting an inquiry into the purported letter written by VG Siddhartha where he claimed to have made financial transactions without informing the company. The group, however, refused to verify the authenticity of the letter.
"The Board took cognizance of statements in the purported letter from Mr VG Siddhartha relating to financial transactions outside the knowledge of the senior management, auditors and the Board. While the authenticity of the letter is unverified and it is unclear whether these statements pertain to the Company or the personal holdings of Mr VG Siddhartha, the Board took serious note of the same and resolved to thoroughly investigate this matter," the letter read.
The body of Cafe Coffee Day founder V G Siddhartha, who went missing two days ago, was found by local fishermen and patrolling policemen on the banks of the Nethravathi river near Mangaluru on Wednesday.
A police official said "everything" points to suicide but nothing can be ruled out until the investigation is over.
Siddhartha, whose chain of cafes helped make coffee a lifestyle beverage and brought in the latte, cappuccino, Americano and espresso into the urban Indian lexicon, was 69. He is survived by his wife Malavika and two sons.
His body was identified by his friends, said Dakshina Kannada district Deputy Commissioner Sasikanth Senthil.
The body of Siddhartha, who purportedly wrote a farewell letter to the Board of Directors and employees of his company Coffee Day Enterprises and alleged harassment from lenders and tax authorities, was traced after nearly two days of an intensive search operation.
The search involved multiple agencies which scoured the waters under a bridge across Nethravathi, where Siddhartha was reportedly last seen on Monday night, officials said.
"We have found the body. They (Siddhartha’s family) are making arrangements for the funeral. I will also attend it. I have no words to comfort the family," Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa said in Bengaluru.
"He had more assets than liabilities," Yediyurappa added.
The letter was purportedly written by Siddhartha, whose authenticity could not be independently verified, also showed he was under "tremendous pressure" from lenders.
"I have failed as an entrepreneur," he said in the alleged letter.
Siddhartha said he had fought for a long time, but "today I gave up as I could not take any more pressure from one of the private equity partners forcing me to buy back shares, a transaction I had partially completed six months ago by borrowing a large sum of money from a friend".
"Tremendous pressure from other lenders lead to me succumbing to the situation," he said in the letter.