Beverages company Coca-Cola will buy Costa Coffee chain from Britain's Whitbread for a whopping $5.1 billion (£3.9 billion) deal. The deal was unanimously passed by the board of Britain-based Whitbread, the company informed on Friday.
The Costa Coffee acquisition will help Coca-Cola expand its existing coffee lineup by adding another leading brand and platform. Coca-Cola's portfolio already includes the market-leading Georgia brand in Japan, plus coffee products in many other countries.
The deal would combine the Costa brand with Coca-Cola's global scale, product and distribution capabilities, said Whitbread chief executive Alison Brittain, according to BBC. Whitbread bought Costa, now the UK's biggest coffee chain, for £19 million in 1995 when it had only 39 shops.
“Costa gives Coca-Cola new capabilities and expertise in coffee, and our system can create opportunities to grow the Costa brand worldwide,” said Coca-Cola President and CEO James Quincey.
Costa Coffee now has more than 2,400 coffee shops in the UK alone, apart from about 1,400 outlets in 31 overseas markets.
With the Costa Coffee acquisition, Coca-Cola now expects to expand its footprint across parts of Europe, Asia Pacific, the Middle East and Africa, with the opportunity for additional expansion.