Coca-Cola halts sale of Costa Coffee after weak bids
Coca-Cola has reportedly abandoned plans to sell its Costa Coffee chain after bids from private equity firms fell short of its £2 billion expectations.
The US beverage giant had acquired Costa for £3.9 billion in 2018 but struggled with rising costs, especially coffee bean prices, and intense competition on UK high streets. Potential buyers in the later stages of talks included TDR Capital, Bain Capital, Apollo, KKR, and Centurium Capital, News.Az reports, citing The Guardian.
Costa, with around 2,700 outlets in the UK and Ireland, posted £1.2 billion in revenue in 2024, a 1% increase from the previous year, but operating losses widened to £13.5 million amid challenging market conditions. Coca-Cola has not ruled out selling Costa in the future, even as outgoing CEO James Quincey hands over to COO Henrique Braun.
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