NEW DELHI: Coffee Day Enterprises on Thursday said it has appointed Ernst and Young LLP (EY) as strategic corporate advisor to scrutinize the books of accounts of the company and its subsidiaries. The global accounting firm has been tasked with investigating the circumstances leading to statements made in the purported letter of the former Chairman, late VG Siddhartha dated July 27, 2019.
The board of the company, in its meeting held on Thursday, also decided to appoint Siddhartha’s wife Malavika Hegde to ensure that the company continues to have a strategic direction and a suitable way forward. “Malavika Hegde was appointed as an additional member of the Executive Committee which was formed in the meeting held on July 31, 2019,” informed Coffee Day Enterprises Ltd in a regulatory filing.
As per the regulatory filings with stock exchanges and the corporate affairs ministry, Coffee Day Ltd’s liabilities had doubled to over Rs 5,200 crore and Siddhartha’s unlisted ventures for realty and hospitality were having similar levels of debt. Earlier, on August 6, Coffee Day Enterprises had said that it is aware of reports questioning the authenticity of the signature on the purported letter written by Siddhartha and is cooperating with regulatory authorities in this regard.
The letter, which is believed to be the final note by the late promoter and widely circulated on social media, contained statements, alleging harassment on Siddhartha by the Income Tax department in the form of attaching “our shares on two separate occasions to block our Mindtree deal and then taking position of our Coffee Day shares, although revised returns have been filed by us”.