CCD founder VG Siddhartha: Private equity firm KKR 'saddened' by developments; clarifies did not sell any shares to firm after February 2018

VG Siddhartha, who is missing since 29 July, had in a letter reportedly written to shareholders, said he was under tremendous pressure from one of the private equity partners and lenders. This had led to a liquidity crunch and made him “succumb to the situation”. In response to the letter, KKR, a private equity firm released a statement expressing sadness at Siddhartha’s missing said: We are deeply saddened by the developments (at CCD). Our thoughts are with his family at this time. We believe in VG Siddhartha and had invested in the company about 9 years ago. We sold approximately 4.25 percent (of our total holding of approximately 10.3 percent in the company) in February 2018 on the stock exchange. We have not sold any shares before or after February 2018. In the letter reportedly written by Siddhartha, he blames “serious liquidity crunch”, “harassment from the previous DG income tax” and “pressure from one of the private equity partners forcing me to buy back shares” for his situation. [caption id=“attachment_7078831” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File image of VG Siddartha. News18[/caption] “…I have failed to create the right profitable business model despite my best efforts,” Siddhartha says in the letter addressed to “our Board of Directors and Coffee day family.” The CCD founder further writes: “I fought for a long time but today I gave up as I could not take any more pressure from one of the private equity partners forcing me to buy back shares, a transaction I had partially completed six months ago by borrowing a large sum of money from a friend.” **V G SIDDHARTHA MISSING: CLICK HERE FOR LIVE UPDATES** VG Siddhartha missing: CCD founder's 'letter' blames his 'failure' on 'pressure' from equity partner, 'harassment' from ex-DG, Income Tax Full text: Cafe Coffee Day founder VG Siddhartha goes missing; leaves letter to management, staff saying 'I failed as an entrepreneur' CCD founder VG Siddhartha goes missing: Tycoon reimagined idea of coffee in India, always sought to strike out on his own The total promoter shareholding in Siddhartha’s Coffee Day Enterprises is close to 53.93 percent, and Siddhartha as a majority shareholder has 32.75 percent stake. The largest private equity shareholders include NLS Mauritius LLC, KKR Mauritius PE investments II Ltd and Marina West (Singapore) Pte. Ltd holding 10.61 percent, 6.07 percent and 4.63 percent. Marina Iii (Singapore) Pte. Ltd has a shareholding of 1.04 percent. Overseas corporate bodies have 22.35 percent. On Tuesday, shares of Coffee Day Enterprises fell 20 percent in morning trade to hit a low of Rs 154.05 on BSE. The stock has lost 44 percent of its market value year to date.