Cafe Coffee Day shares plunge to fresh record low of Rs 123.25 from Rs 154.05 after VG Siddhartha found dead

He owned a direct stake of 32.75% in CCD, together with his family he controlled 53.93 percent of the coffee chain.

New Delhi: Shares of popular coffee chain Cafe Coffee Day went to further record low to Rs 123.25 as compared to yesterday's low of Rs 154.05 a piece, after its founder VG Siddhartha was found dead.

On Wednesday, shares of the coffee chain ended the day with a 52-week low, by falling 19.99 percent to Rs 154.05 a piece, after founder VG Siddhartha went missing.

Siddhartha had alleged harassment by the Income Tax department over filing of returns as well as coercive blocking of Mindtree deal and then taking possession of CCD shares.

He owned a direct stake of 32.75% in CCD, together with his family controls 53.93 per cent of the coffee chain.

While the free-fall in the company's shares has led to investors' panic, the company had tried to allay the fears by writing to BSE that it is “professionally managed and led by competent leadership team, which will ensure continuity of business."

Cafe Coffee Day, a part of Coffee Day Global Limited, opened its first cafe in 1996 at Brigade Road in Bangalore and was listed in S&P BSE 500 in 2015. The company also has its presence in Austria, Czech Republic and Malaysia.

Siddhartha had been selling assets in the recent past in order to cut debt. In May, he exited from his 20.32 percent holding in Mindtree by selling the entire stake to construction major Larsen and Toubro through a block deal worth around Rs 3,200 crore.

As on March 2019, Coffee Day Enterprises, the holding firm of CCD, had a total debt of around Rs 6,550 crore while its logistics arm, Sical has Rs 1,113 crore debt.