Coffee Day Appoints V.G. Siddhartha’s Wife Malavika Hegde As CEO

On Monday, Coffee Day Enterprises Ltd said in a stock exchange filing that the company's board has approved the appointment of Malavika Hedge, wife of the founder and former chairman V.G. Siddhartha, as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the company with immediate effect.

In July 2019, S.V. Ranganath was named as the independent board member after authorities recovered Siddhartha's body floating in a river near the port city of Mangaluru, two days after his disappearance sparked speculation that he committed suicide due to intense financial strain.

Increased speculation and coverage on his death caused the shares of the company to plunge, before eventually being suspended from trading since 3 February.

The Bengaluru-based entity that runs hundreds of coffee shops across India under the brand Cafe Coffee Day, also said in the filing that Board of Directors at its meeting appointed C. H. Vasudhara Devi, Giri Devanur and Mohan Raghavendra Kondi as additional directors in the capacity of Non-Executive Independent Directors of the Company. The board also recommended C. H. Vasudhara Devi, Giri Devanur and Mohan Raghavendra Kondi to be appointed as Independent Directors of the Company from 31 December 2020 up till 30 December 2025 subject to the approval of shareholders of the company.