Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Whitbread boss Alison Brittain tells Today the deal would boost Costa's global expansion

Coca-Cola is to buy the Costa coffee chain from owner Whitbread in a deal worth £3.9bn. It has invested heavily in Costa’s expansion overseas recently, but had been looking to siphon off the business to generate funds for the expansion and for its other business, the budget hotel chain Premier Inn. DA hiked by 2%

Costa Coffee, which was acquired by British company Whitbread in 1995, was founded in London in 1971 by the brothers Sergio and Bruno Costa as a wholesale operation supplying roasted coffee to caterers and specialist Italian coffee shops. Costa also gives Coca-Cola new capabilities and expertise in coffee, and our system can create opportunities to grow the Costa brand worldwide,” Coca-Cola President and CEO said while announcing the deal. While this is a landmark deal for Whitbread, it is also a significant move for Coca-Cola, taking it into hot beverages for the first time and, it hopes, providing the growth for which its investors have been crying out.
The Coca-Cola Company agrees to buy British multinational coffeehouse Costa Coffee for £3.9 billion.