The Coffee Day enterprise has said that VG Siddhartha, the Chairman and Managing Director of Coffee Day Enterprises Limited is not reachable since yesterday (Monday) evening.
Karnataka-based businessman, son-in-law of former state chief minister SM Krishna and chairman & managing director of India's popular coffee chain, Cafe Coffee Day (CCD), VG Siddhartha has been missing since Monday evening, his franchise confirmed on Tuesday.
The Coffee Day enterprise has said that VG Siddhartha, the Chairman and Managing Director of Coffee Day Enterprises Limited is not reachable since yesterday (Monday) evening. "We are taking the help of concerned authorities," the enterprise added.
Ever since Coffee Day chairman VG Siddhartha missing reports has surfaced, the shares of Coffee Day Enterprises have tanked 20 percent and hit the lower circuit limit as well as 52-week low of Rs 154.05 apiece on BSE.
Siddhartha, the son-in-law of former Karnataka chief minister SM Krishna, has been missing since Monday evening when he was heading for Sakaleshpur but on the way asked his driver to go towards Mangaluru, according to the police.
However, amidst all this, a letter written by him to the board of Cafe Coffee Day on July 29 has now surfaced in which Siddhartha said that he has 'failed as an entrepreneur'.
Meanwhile, a massive search operation is being carried out by the Karnataka police with more than 200 officials and divers on about 25 boats trying to trace Siddhartha. The deputy commissioner said that sniffer dogs have also been pressed into service.
(With inputs from ANI and PTI)
Here's are five things to know about Coffee Day MD and Chairman VG Siddhartha who is missing since Monday:
1. Siddhartha sold 20% stake in Mindtree to L&T
)
VG Siddhartha, who was also on board for GTV, Mindtree, Liqwid Krystal, Way2Wealth and Ittiam had sold 20 percent stake in Mindtree to Larsen & Toubro recently through block deal for about Rs 3,210 crore.
Even after Mindtree management approached Siddhartha not to sell the stake to Larsen & Toubro, it failed to convince the Coffee Day owner.
In a letter written by Siddhartha, which has surfaced after the Coffee Day founder has gone missing, he said, "There was a lot of harassment from the previous DG Income Tax in the form of attaching our shares on two separate occasions to block our Mindtree deal and then taking position of our Coffee Day shares, although the revised returns have been filed by us. This was very unfair and has lead to a serious liquidity crunch."
Mindtree Limited — is an Indian multinational IT and outsourcing company — with its headquartered in Bengaluru and New Jersey, USA. The company is owned by Larsen & Toubro (L&T).
Founded in 1999, Mindtree, which has approximately 20,204 employees, deals in e-commerce, mobile applications, cloud computing, digital transformation, data analytics, enterprise application integration, and enterprise resource planning.
2. 'Couldn't take any more pressure'
)
A letter by missing Coffee Day Managing Director and Chairman VG Siddhartha has surfaced in which the Karnataka-based businessman has said, "I gave up as I couldn't take any more pressure from one of the private equity partners forcing me to buyback shares, a transaction I had partially completed six months ago by borrowing a large sum of money from a friend."
"Tremendous pressure from other vendors let me succumbing to the situation," VG Siddhartha wrote in the letter. (Photo: Reuters)
3. Coffee Day owner doubled money he invested in coffee plantations
)
Born in Chikmagalur district in Karnataka, VG Siddhartha's family has been into coffee plantation business for over 140 years. Siddhartha went to Mangalore University to earn a Master's degree and later worked with JM Financial Limited in Mumbai from 1983-1984 as a management trainee. His profile was Portfolio Management and securities trading.
Siddhartha later returned to Bengaluru and opened a company called Sivan Securities later known as Way2wealth Securities Ltd. This company's venture capital division further came to be known as Global Technology Ventures (GTV).
After returning to Bengaluru, Siddhartha also managed to buy a stock market card for Rs 30,000.
Excelling in his coffee business, Siddhartha by 1985 became the owner of 10,000 acres of coffee farms.
Reports say he doubled the money which he invested in coffee plantations after economic liberalisation in coffee trading in 1990.
The founder and owner of Cafe Coffee Day VG Siddhartha opened its first outlet in Bengaluru at Brigade Road.
With a rise in its popularity, Cafe Coffee Day became India's largest coffee chain having around 1,700 cafes, 48,000 vending machines, 532 kiosks and 403 ground coffee selling outlets across the country.
4. Coca Cola looking to buy Cafe Coffee Day?
)
Another development which surfaced a couple of months ago was that Cafe Coffee Day (CCD) was in talks with another popular global franchise Coca Cola to sell a substantial stake and eyeing a valuation of Rs 8,000 to Rs 10,000 crore.
5. Controversies surrounding Coffee Day chairman
)
Cafe Coffee Day founder and owner, VG Siddhartha has been accused of tax evasion by IT officials in 2017.
In a raid which was conducted by income sleuths in 2017 across 20 locations in Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai and Chikmagalur in relation to Siddhartha, officials concluded with an admission of previously concealed income exceeding Rs 650 crore.
Portion of his shares linked to Mindtree were attached by the tax authorities in 2019, something which makes a mention in his letter.
