Coca-Cola Announces to Acquire British Costa Coffee Company

A few days ago, the Coca-Cola Company announced that it has reached a definitive agreement to acquire British coffee house company Costa Limited. The transaction deal, valued at USD 5.1 billion (approx. EUR 4.3 billion), will give the US beverage group the possibility to broaden its portfolio even further by adding coffee specialities and building a strong presence across parts of Europe, Asia Pacific, the Middle East and Africa, with the opportunity for additional expansion. Founded in London in 1971, Whitbread PLC owns the coffee house chain, which has nearly 4,000 retail outlets. In comparison to this, US rival Starbucks has around 28,000 stores worldwide.

With the planned acquisition, Coca-Cola wants to get more involved in the fast-growing coffee business. So far, the Georgia coffee brand has been part of the soft drink company’s portfolio, which is sold mainly in Japan and other Asian countries as a canned ready-to-drink coffee beverage. Under the “Chaqwa“ brand, Coca-Cola has been offering coffee, cocoa and tea from fully automatic machines for the out-of-home-market for a few years now. “Hot beverages is one of the few segments of the total beverage landscape where Coca-Cola does not have a global brand,“ said Coca-Cola President and CEO James Quincey. The transaction is expected to be completed by mid-2019. (eap)