The promoter of Coffee Day Enterprises, VG Siddhartha, committed suicide in July 2019, leaving behind a mountain of debt spread across a string of companies.

Not many know that apart from taking loans from banks, VGS also took personal loans and invested in various businesses. As some of the businesses lost money, it came to light that the promoter entities of Coffee Day owe Rs 3,500 crore to the listed entities.

The lenders have converted their loans and their stake has now increased to 85 per cent, while the family owns only little over 15 per cent. But the lenders will not be able to get a major portion of their dues as the company’s businesses have mostly shut shop due to the corona pandemic. Besides, there are no takers for its front-end stores and coffee estates in Karnataka. The only option now for banks is tosend the company to the bankruptcy court and try to retrieve a few pennies of their total exposure.