Leisure group Whitbread has agreed to sell the UK's biggest coffee chain Costa to Coca-Cola for £3.9bn. Whitbread acquired Costa in 1995 for £19m when it had 39 shops. Coca-Cola already holds a 42.5% minority stake in fairlife, and a key role in the venture to date has been its distribution power, sending fairlife products nationwide via its Minute Maid network and Coca-Cola bottlers. Jim Dinkins, Coca-Cola North America President, says the acquisition of fairlife is part of its mission to become a ‘total Coca-Cola announced to purchase Whitbread's Costa Coffee. Costa is extremely strong in its UK home market. Similar to Starbucks, Costa wants to grow in the Chinese market. Brexit and China pose Why did Coca-Cola buy Costa Coffee? The price of Costa Coffee doesn’t make a dent in Coca-Cola’s $191 billion valuation but it is one of its most significant acquisitions. Although Coca-Cola can often be considered as a self-propelling behemoth, the company has been losing its fizz over recent years and its prospects have been going flat. Costa Coffee was acquired by the Coca-Cola Company in 2018 from Whitbread Plc. Over the e-commerce and channels that have witnessed exponential growth after the pandemic, Ray said it will use the Coca-Cola is making a move into the hot beverage market with the acquisition of Costa for £3.9bn as it looks to diversity away from its core business of sugary drinks. Coca-Cola is acquiring the Costa coffee chain from owner Whitbread as it looks to move into the coffee market and shore up its business as sales of fizzy drinks high in sugar Article content. Coca-Cola Co has agreed to buy coffee chain Costa for US$5.1 billion including debt to extend its push into healthier drinks and take on the likes of Starbucks and Nestle in the booming global coffee market. Coca-Cola Diversity & Inclusiveness Reporting. Minute Maid, Costa Coffee, Energy Brands (Glacéau), Honest Tea, and a minority stake in Monster Beverage Corp. are all big names owned by Coca-Cola. Coca-Cola has announced a surprise move to buy Costa Coffee, one of Europe's largest café chains, from the British company Whitbread for £3.9 billion, or $5.1 billion, in a move likely to send Whitbread CEO says shareholders will be ‘absolutely delighted’ with Costa deal. Coca-Cola has agreed to buy coffee chain Costa for $5.1 billion including debt to extend its push into healthier mDGu.