Costa Coffee is a British multinational coffeehouse company headquartered in Dunstable, Bedfordshire. Credit: CoolGuy, Wikipedia.

Soft drinks giant Coca-Cola has completed the acquisition of London-based coffeehouse chain Costa Coffee from its parent company Whitbread for $4.9bn.

The company closed the deal, which was announced in August last year, after receiving approval from regulatory authorities in the European Union and China.

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The transaction will expand Coca-Cola’s presence with the addition of Costa’s footprint in more than 30 countries in the global coffee business.

Coca-Cola will also benefit from Costa’s scalable platform across multiple formats and channels including the Costa Express vending system and new ready-to-drink opportunities.

“Our vision is to use the strong Costa platform to expand our portfolio in the growing coffee category.”

Coca-Cola CEO James Quincey said: “We see great opportunities for value creation through the combination of Costa’s capabilities and Coca-Cola’s marketing expertise and global reach.

“Our vision is to use the strong Costa platform to expand our portfolio in the growing coffee category.”

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Costa will also provide its expertise in the coffee supply chain including sourcing, vending and distribution with potential to expand further in various formats, serving customers across the Coca-Cola system.

Whitbread CEO Alison Brittain said: “We wish our friends and colleagues at Costa all the very best for their future success. Whitbread acquired Costa 23 years ago, when it had only 39 shops.

“Costa has grown to become a leading, international coffee brand, and Coca-Cola is the right partner to take Costa to the next stage of expansion.”

The coffeehouse chain currently operates 4,000 locations, a coffee vending operation, for-home coffee formats and a roastery.