CCD stock tumbles after founder reported missing

Coffee Day Enterprises, which owns the Indian coffee chain Café Coffee Day (CCD), plunged 20 per cent on Tuesday after its founder was reported missing since Monday night.

Market rumours suggest that the founder of CCD, V G Siddhartha, walked out of his car and jumped off a bridge in Mangalore. The company is yet to clarify on this rumour but it has stated in a letter to the exchanges about the inability to contact V G Siddhartha. In a letter to the company’s employees before disappearing, he admitted to be under tremendous financial pressure and was being harassed by the previous DG Income Tax, which also led to a liquidity crunch in the company. IT company Mindtreee had previously reported about irregularities in the pledge disclosure issue made by V G Siddhartha when he exited from his investments in Mindtree by offloading 20.4 per cent stake held by him and giving it to L&T.

A first generation coffee entrepreneur, V G Siddhartha had married former Karnataka Chief Minster SM Krishna’s daughter. CCD’s first outlet was opened in Bengaluru in 1996. Coffee Day Enterprises is one of the largest producers of Arabica in Asia and operates and serves via its CCD chain in almost six countries globally.

Reacting to this news, on Tuesday, the stock of the company fell by 20 per cent or by Rs 38.50 to Rs. 154.05, thus halting its trading for the day as it hit its lower circuit. The 52-week high is Rs. 325 and 52-week low is Rs. 154.05 on the BSE.