Coca-Cola to buy Costa coffee as it looks to diversify beyond sugary drinks

Coca-Cola is acquiring the Costa coffee chain from owner Whitbread as it looks to move into the coffee market and shore up its business as sales of fizzy drinks high in sugar continue to fall.
The deal, worth £3.9bn, has been unanimously approved by Whitbread shareholders. Whitbread will now focus on its Premier Inn business, which it operates in the UK and Ireland.
Whitbread has owned Costa since 1995, when it bought it for just £19m. It has since grown from 39 outlets to more than