COSTA acquired by COCA-COLA

The Coca-Cola Company agreed on Aug. 31, 2018 to acquire Costa Limited from Whitbread for , securing a coffee platform spanning parts of Europe, Asia Pacific, the Middle East and Africa, and adding a brand with a growing footprint in China. Founded in London in 1971, Costa ranks as the leading coffee company in the United Kingdom and operates nearly 4,000 retail outlets alongside a coffee vending operation through Costa Express, for-home coffee formats and a roastery. For fiscal 2018, Costa generated revenue of and EBITDA of . Upon closing, Coca-Cola will acquire all issued and outstanding shares of Costa Limited, a wholly owned Whitbread subsidiary containing all of Costa's existing operating businesses. Whitbread sought shareholder approval at a meeting on Oct. 10, 2018, following its April 25, 2018 announcement of the intention to demerge Costa from its Premier Inn hospitality division. The transaction, subject to customary closing conditions including antitrust approvals in the European Union and China, was expected to close in the first half of 2019. Coca-Cola said the deal would be slightly accretive in the first full year, excluding purchase accounting. Rothschild acted as exclusive financial adviser to Coca-Cola, Clifford Chance as legal counsel and Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom as tax counsel. Coca-Cola President and CEO James Quincey said hot beverages was one of the few segments of the total beverage landscape where the company did not have a global brand. Costa Managing Director Dominic Paul led the business at the time of the announcement.