Under the transaction, Coca-Cola will acquire the Costa brand together with almost 4,000 stores across 32 countries (almost 60% of which are in the UK), over 8,000 self-serve coffee vending machines and a growing in-home coffee business. According to the Whitebread announcement, the deal values Costa at 16.4X FY2018 EBITDA.
The Coca-Cola Company Completes Acquisition of Costa from Whitbread PLC Coca-Cola Adds Global Coffee Platform with Potential for Future Growth and Expansion ATLANTA and DUNSTABLE, BEDFORDSHIRE, ENGLAND, Jan. 3, 2019 – The Coca-Cola Company today announced that it has completed the acquisition of Costa Limited from Whitbread PLC. Costa Coffee started over 45 years ago by two brothers. It started as "the UK's favorite coffee shop" but is now available all around the world. To date, it's Coca-Cola's largest acquisition Coca-Cola first announced it was to take a near 100 per cent stake in Innocent Drinks a year ago to the day tomorrow (22 February). When the increased investment first came to light, observers expressed concerns that Innocent’s entrepreneurial brand spirit could become diluted under its new owner, but the brand insists “very little has changed” since Coke became its majority shareholder.In 2001, Coca-Cola acquired the Odwalla brand of fruit juices, smoothies, and bars for $181 million. However, this year, in July 2020, it announced discontinuation with Odwalla stating that “it wants to kill zombie brands.” On 31 August 2018, Coca-Cola agreed to acquire Costa Coffee from Whitebrads for £3.9bn.The US beverage giant Coca-Cola is buying the British coffee-shop chain Costa Coffee in a surprise acquisition. The British company Whitbread is selling Costa for £3.9 billion, or $5.1 billion. HDDzlHS.