Sky News: Coca-Cola is considering the sale of Britain's largest coffee shop chain

American company Coca-Cola is exploring the possibility of selling the largest British coffee chain Costa Coffee, which it acquired in 2018 for more than $5 billion. About reports Sky News, citing informed sources.

According to the newspaper, Coca-Cola has already held preliminary talks with potential buyers, including private equity firms.

The first proposals are expected to come in early fall. At the same time, the company may decide to keep Costa in its structure.

The Costa Coffee chain operates in 50 countries and has more than 2,700 coffee shops in the UK and Ireland and about 1,300 more worldwide.

Analysts say that the sale of the coffee chain will result in a multi-billion pound loss of 3.9 billion pounds. One analyst suggested that Costa Coffee could now be worth as little as £2 billion.

Coca-Cola bought Costa to strengthen its position in the coffee market and compete with Starbucks and Nestlé.

• On July 17, US President Donald Trump stated that has agreed with Coca-Cola to switch to cane sugar in beverages on the American market.
• On July 22, Coca-Cola confirmed that it will introduce a new beverage in the US in the fall of 2025, made from American cane sugar.