The coffee chain has come a long way since the 2019 crisis. But its pile of debt and inability to raise capital pose a threat to its survival.
In December 2020, when Malavika Siddhartha Hegde, wife of Café Coffee Day founder V.G. Siddhartha, took over as the company's CEO, she had an uphill task.
There were lenders queuing up to be paid, foreign and domestic investors were selling their stakes in the flagship company—Coffee Day Enterprises Ltd—and, to add to her problems, markets regulator SEBI was investigating fund diversion from the company to other entities related to the promoters.
The founder's demise had opened a Pandora's box of troubles for the company and revealed gaps in its corporate governance.
Despite the challenges, Hegde, in a letter to employees …
Aakriti used to write at the intersection of public markets and large corporations. She joined The Morning Context from The Financial Express, where she was with the markets team, and before that had started out in business journalism as a correspondent with Reuters.
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aakriti@mailtmc.com
Delhi