Who Owns Costa Coffee?

Costa Coffee is owned by The Coca-Cola Company, which bought it from Whitbread in a deal completing on 3 January 2019. Companies House records the handover precisely: Coca-Cola was notified as the person with significant control of Costa Limited on that date, and Whitbread ceased on the same day. Ownership verified 5 September 2026.

Who owns the Costa Coffee brand?

The operating company is Costa Limited (01270695), incorporated on 28 July 1976 under the name C. B. Costa Bros. Coffee Co. Limited — the Costa brothers’ original business, still the same registered company nearly fifty years later.

Its registered person with significant control is The Coca-Cola Company (United States, registration 88529), holding 75% or more of the shares and voting rights with the right to appoint and remove directors.

Parent company and ultimate owner

The Coca-Cola Company is both the immediate controller and the ultimate owner — it is a listed US company with no parent above it. There is no intermediate chain here of the kind Harrods or Royal Mail have; the UK register names the American parent directly against the UK operating company.

Coca-Cola itself is widely held, with no controlling shareholder. Berkshire Hathaway has been its largest holder for decades, at a level well below control.

Brand owner vs operating company

Costa Limited runs the business and holds the brand. Coca-Cola owns Costa Limited.

The distinction that matters for customers is franchising. A large number of Costa outlets — particularly the Costa Express self-serve machines in petrol stations and supermarkets — are operated by other businesses under licence rather than by Costa Limited. The sign says Costa; the site is somebody else’s. Seeing the brand in a shop is not evidence of who owns that shop.

When the ownership changed

Costa was founded in London in 1971 by brothers Sergio and Bruno Costa, initially roasting and supplying coffee to caterers rather than running shops.

Whitbread bought Costa in 1995 and grew it into the UK’s largest coffee chain. Whitbread Group plc (00029423) is recorded as Costa Limited’s person with significant control from 6 April 2016 until 3 January 2019.

On that same date The Coca-Cola Company was notified — the completion of a sale reported at around £3.9 billion. Whitbread kept Premier Inn, which is now its main business, so the transaction reshaped both companies rather than just changing Costa’s owner.

This is a good example of why the PSC dates repay attention. Most UK PSC entries are dated 6 April 2016, the day the regime began, and carry no information. The 3 January 2019 pair — one ceasing, one starting — records an actual event.

Related brands in the same group

Coca-Cola owns a wide portfolio beyond its namesake drink: Sprite, Fanta, Schweppes in some markets, Innocent Drinks, Costa and others. Ownership of the brand is separate again from bottling — Coca-Cola Europacific Partners is a distinct listed company that bottles and distributes under agreement, and is not the same as The Coca-Cola Company.

Whitbread, the former owner, retains Premier Inn and Beefeater. Costa’s history with Whitbread does not connect it to those businesses now.

Sources and verification

The ownership and both dates come from the Companies House PSC register for Costa Limited (01270695), where the Coca-Cola entry and the ceased Whitbread entry can be read directly.

The £3.9 billion figure is the reported transaction value rather than a register entry. Coca-Cola’s own ownership is not on any UK register — it is a US-listed company disclosing through SEC filings. Companies House does not verify most filed information.