Whitbread is to purchase the 16 store estate of its major franchisee Life Coffee Cafes for a rumoured £11 to £12 million. Inevitably, this again gives rise to speculation about Whitbread’s plans for Costa Coffee – now valued in £ billions – and whether and when it plans to float Costa as a separate company.
In the meantime, Costa has issued a statement on the acquisition:
“We can confirm that Costa has recently acquired Life Coffee Cafes, an existing Costa franchise, which consists of 16 stores, with around 200 employees across the South of England. The business had been put up for sale and we took the opportunity to purchase it as it is focused on the retail park and drive thru sectors – a key priority for Costa’s continued growth.
“Costa continues to believe in the mixed business model of franchise and equity stores. Whilst it’s not our strategic intention to acquire our franchise partners we will review the opportunities on a case by case basis to determine if it fits with our strategy and opportunities for the brand long term.”