Coffee Day appoints late founder V G Siddhartha's wife as CEO

Daughter of former Karnataka chief minister SM Krishna, she was earlier non-exec director at the firm; has been named at a time when the company's growth continues to decline

Coffee Day Enterprises, the owner of the Cafe Coffee Day chain, has appointed founder and former chairman VG Siddhartha's wife Malavika Hegde as its chief executive officer.

“Malavika Hegde, Director of the Company, has been appointed as Chief Executive Officer of the Company with effect from December 7, 2020,” said the company in a BSE filing on Monday.

Daughter of former Karnataka chief minister SM Krishna, she was earlier the non-executive director at the company and has been appointed at a time when the company continues to see a decline in growth. 

The Bengaluru-based company had reported a revenue of Rs 292 crore for September quarter, a fall of 67 per cent as compared to the previous corresponding quarter. 

Hegde is also on the board of other subsidiaries of Coffee Day Enterprises such as Coffee Day Global, and Coffee Day Hotels and Resorts. 

After her husband had passed under mysterious circumstances in July last year, Hegde had earlier this year written a letter to the group’s employees mentioning that she was trying to maintain the legacy of the company that Siddhartha had built.

The company has also appointed three additional directors in the capacity of non-executive independent directors, it said in a filing to the BSE. Coffee Day Enterprises said that CH Vasudhara Devi, Giri Devanur and Mohan Raghavendra Kondi have been appointed as additional directors in the capacity of non-executive independent directors from December 31 up till 30 December 2025 subject to the approval of shareholders.

Coffee Day Enterprises which has over 45 subsidiaries has been paring its debt through the sale of non-core assets after the death of Siddhartha. Last month, it had entered into a share purchase agreement with Shriram Credit Company Limited as a part of which the latter would acquire 85.53 per cent in its subsidiary Way2Wealth Securities at an enterprise valuation of Rs 65.07 crore. Shriram Credit Company Limited is an affiliate of Shriram Ownership Trust. 

In order to deleverage its balance sheet, it had sealed a deal with private equity major Blackstone and realty firm Salarpuria Sattva Group in September last year to sell the Global Village Tech Park to them. Its homegrown coffee chain CCD had closed down around 280 outlets in the first quarter of the current fiscal year, citing profitability issues.