Coca-Cola (KO) Drops Costa Sale Plans After Bids Fall Short, FT Reports

The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) is included among the 13 Best Dividend Kings to Buy in 2026.

According to a January 14 report from the Financial Times, The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) has dropped its plans to sell Costa Coffee after private equity offers came in below what the company was hoping to get. That decision marks another rough chapter in Coke’s ownership of the UK-based coffee chain, which has struggled to meet expectations.

The FT said Coca-Cola ended talks with the remaining bidders in December, effectively shutting down an auction process that had been running for months. Two people familiar with the discussions told the newspaper that firms still involved in the later stages included TDR Capital (which owns Asda) and Bain Capital’s special situations fund, which owns brands such as Gail’s and PizzaExpress.

Coca-Cola had reportedly been aiming for around £2 billion for Costa. That would have been a steep markdown from the £3.9 billion it paid in 2018, when it bought the chain from Whitbread, the owner of Premier Inn. The decision to pause the sale comes at a sensitive time internally. The FT noted that Coca-Cola’s chief operating officer, Henrique Braun, is expected to replace James Quincey as CEO in March. One person close to Coca-Cola’s thinking said the company could still revisit a potential sale in the medium term, but for now, it has chosen to step back.

Quincey, who told analysts last July that Costa had “not delivered” for Coca-Cola, is set to move into the executive chair role. Ending the sale process also raises another issue: the value of Costa on Coca-Cola’s books. If the business is worth less than previously assumed, Coca-Cola may eventually need to take a write-down. Costa has already taken hits in certain markets. In 2024, it recorded an impairment of £48.6 million tied to its China business, blaming weaker-than-expected demand in its Shanghai coffee shops.

The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) is a global beverage company with brands across a wide range of categories. Its flagship sparkling soft drinks include Coca-Cola, Sprite, and Fanta.

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