In a shocking turn of events, the founder of India’s biggest coffee chain Café Coffee Day, VG Siddhartha, has gone missing since yesterday (29th July) evening from Mangaluru. Siddhartha holds the position as the Managing Director and Chairman in the coffee chain, which is popular across the nation as CCD.
In their statement to the BSE, Coffee Day Enterprises that owns CCD has said that they have reached out to the concerned authorities and taking their help. The statement further assured that the business would be continued as the entity is professionally led and managed by a skilled leadership team. As soon as they receive more update, they will share it, added the company.
As per the reports, Siddhartha was returning to Bengaluru from Mangaluru when he asked his driver to stop the car near a bridge across the Nethravathi River. Siddhartha then got off the car telling his driver to park it ahead as he felt like taking a walk. But when he didn’t return even after more than an hour, the driver started looking for him. As he failed to trace him, he informed the family members immediately who then contacted the police. At present, a massive search operation is being carried out by the police to find Siddhartha.
Ever since the news broke out, the company’s shares are noticing a downfall. As of early trade on 30th July, the company has witnessed a dip of almost 20% in its shares on the BSE.
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The first outlet of CCD was founded in 1996 in Bengaluru, Karnataka. Now there are over 1,700 outlets spread across the nation. The popular coffee chain also has outlets in the Czech Republic, Austria, Nepal, Egypt, and Malaysia.
Meanwhile, a letter dated 27th July 2019 has been doing the rounds on the internet which is allegedly written by Siddhartha to his CCD family and board of directors. The letter sees him apologizing for his failure in creating the right and profitable business model where he also declares his failure as an entrepreneur. In the letter, Siddhartha has said that he did give it his all and is sorry to have let down people who trusted him. The letter further reads, “I fought for a long time, but today I gave up as I could not take any more pressure.” He has blamed the regulators and lenders in the letter for pressurizing him.
According to reports, Siddhartha holds 33 percent of Coffee Day Enterprises while another 21 percent is held by family-owned entities and his wife. In 2015, the company had gone public.
Apart from CCD, Siddhartha is the owner of the single-biggest coffee estate in Asia. He is the son-in-law of SM Krishna, the former Chief Minister of Karnataka.
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It’s also worth noting that in March 2019, Siddhartha sold the 20% stakes that he owned in the software firm named Mindtree for around INR 3,000 crore. Last month, there were reports suggesting that Coca-Cola may purchase a significant stake in CCD.
