Coffee Day Enterprises Ltd, which owns the Cafe Coffee Day chain, named the wife of founder and former VG Siddhartha president, Malavika Hegde, as its CEO on Monday, more than a year after the coffee baron was found dead in a river in southern India.
In July last year, Coffee Day Enterprises appointed independent board member SV Ranganath as interim chairman, 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 was under intense financial pressure.
Malavika Hegde has been named CEO effective immediately, the company said in a presentation to the exchanges.
Cafe Coffee Day, based in Bengaluru, runs hundreds of coffee shops across India that make cappuccinos and lattes for India’s booming wealthy class and compete with companies like Starbucks Corp, Barista and Costa Coffee, owned by Coca- Tail.
Siddhartha, 59, was widely recognized for bringing coffee shop culture to a tea-loving country, and was also hailed as one of India’s first venture capitalists.
His death plunged the company into an uncertain future, and Coffee Day Enterprises shares plunged when news of his death broke, before its listing was finally suspended from February 3.
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