CCD founder VG Siddhartha to be cremated this evening in Chickamagaluru

The last rites of VG Siddhartha, Café Coffee Day founder and son-in-law of SM Krishna, will be performed this evening at his Chetanahalli estate in Mudigere taluk of Chickamagaluru.

The coffee baron’s body was found floating in Mangaluru’s Nethravathi river this morning, two days after he went missing from a bridge over the river. The body was spotted by a fisherman, helping in search operations, who informed the police.

Siddhartha’s body will be kept at the ABC company office in Chickamagaluru between 2 and 4.30 pm to enable family and friends to pay last respects. It will then be shifted to his Chetanahalli estate in Mudigere taluk of Chickamagaluru for last rites. Chief minister BS Yediyurappa said in assembly that he would attend the cremation. “It is tragic that VG Siddhartha passed away. I will be leaving for his funeral later in the day,” he said.

Siddhartha’s death come at a time when his company was in discussion to refinance a substantial portion of his outstanding personal debt, said two people aware of his discussions with lenders, according to livemint.com

The debt amounted to around ₹2,000 crore and is over and above the consolidated borrowings of Café Coffee Day (CCD) group, which stood at ₹6,547.38 crore as of March, according to the people cited above, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The debt-ridden entrepreneur had started selling his assets earlier this year. Siddhartha and other founders of Coffee Day pledged about 76% of their holdings as collateral, according to filings. The debt burden prompted him to start disposing of his assets earlier this year. In April, he sold a 20% stake in software services firm Mindtree Ltd. to engineering giant Larsen & Toubro Ltd.

Siddhartha left Bengaluru on Monday afternoon to Sakleshpur near Hassan, where he has a house and one of his coffee estates. He told Patil to drive towards Mangaluru after a short break at Sakleshpur to freshen-up.

Siddhartha is the elder son-in-law of senior BJP leader, SM Krishna, who was the external affairs minister in the UPA-2 government (2009-12) and state chief minister (1999-2004) when in the Congress.

(with agency inputs)

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