UK
The $5.1 billion sale of Costa Limited to The Coca-Cola Company is complete. The acquisition gives Coca-Cola an immediate coffee position in 30 countries.
The deal with Costa parent company Whitbread PLC originally was announced on Aug. 31, 2018.
“Costa gives Coca-Cola new capabilities and expertise in coffee, and our system can create opportunities to grow the Costa brand worldwide,” James Quincey, Coca-Cola president and c.e.o., said in August. “Hot beverages are one of the few segments of the total beverage landscape where Coca-Cola does not have a global brand. Costa gives us access to this market with a strong coffee platform.”
Costa generated $1.7 billion in revenues and $312 million in net income in the 2018 fiscal year that ended March 1, Coca-Cola said.
With the acquisition, Coca-Cola gains about 4,000 retail coffee outlets and 20,000 employees around the world. In addition, Costa Express vending machines are in 8,000 locations worldwide.
The company is also experimenting with an organic RTD coffee in UK where it launched Honest Coffee last spring. Plans are to bring the brew stateside in first quarter 2019. The highly successful Honest Tea brand is on track to earn $1 billion.
Coca-Cola’s acquisition includes a new roastery in Basildon, Essex, which began operations in early 2017 quadrupling its previous roasting capacity to 45,000 tons each year.