Following the confirmation of death of its founder VG Siddhartha, Coffee Day Enterprises Ltd, on Wednesday, appointed SV Ranganath as the company's interim chairman. Further, Nitin Bagmane was named the company's interim chief operating officer. While Ranganath has been serving as the non-executive independent director, Bagmane has been a director on the board of Tanglin Developments Ltd- Coffee Day's subsidiary.

The company also said that an investigation into past transactions made by the company and Siddhartha have been initiated considering the statements made in the letter released in the press on Tuesday and the founder's sudden death.

"The board took cognizance of statements in the purported letter from V. G. 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 V. G. Siddhartha, the board took serious note of the same and resolved to thoroughly investigate this matter," it said.

An executive committee comprising of Ranganath, Bagmane and R. Ram Mohan (CFO of Coffee Day Enterprises) was formed to jointly exercise powers held by deceased CEO VG Siddhartha. The company said that the audit and executive committee will hold discussions with statutory auditors and other advisors to come up recommendations of appropriate future steps for the board at its next meeting on 8 August.