The board of directors of the beleaguered Café Coffee Day has named SV Ranganath, retired IAS officer and board member, the interim chairman of board, and Nitin Bagamane as interim Chief Operating Officer of the company.
The CCD board met on July 31, hours after the body of its founder and chairman, VG Siddhartha, was retrieved from Nethravati river in Karnataka's Mangaluru.
It also announced the constitution of an executive committee comprising Ranganath and Bagmane, and chief financial officer (CFO) R Ram Mohan, to exercise powers previously vested with Siddhartha. The board also appointed Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas as legal counsel.
In a statement, the board said it will prepare a charter of authorities vested in the executive committee and approve the same in due course.
Ram Mohan, who is also chairman of SICAL, the logistics firm and a subsidiary of CCD, told media persons: “The board meeting happened, all statutory formalities are getting completed. We are working to continue with the company, and will come out with action plan."
The executive committee will inter alia explore opportunities to deleverage coffee day group, the statement added.
On the doubts about the veracity of the suicide letter written by Siddhartha to the board and employees of CCD, the statement said, “Authenticity of the letter is unverified and it is unclear whether these statements pertain to the company or the personal holdings of VG Siddhartha.”
In his letter, Siddhartha had apologised to the company and its employees for letting them down, saying he had failed as an entrepreneur. He had also mentioned that he was under pressure from private equity investors and was being harassed by income tax authorities.
The next board meeting on August 8.
The board has took note of messages from Malavika Hegde, Siddhartha’s widow, expressing support and trust in CCD's professional team, and in the common effort to look after the interests of employees and all other stake holders.
“The board remains deeply committed to safeguarding interst of all stake holders including investors lenders and employees and customers,” the statement said.
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