Wagamama owner among potential bidders for Costa Coffee

The US investment group behind the Wagmama restaurant chain is among those said to be considering a bid for Costa Coffee chain.

Apollo Global Management, which bought Wagamama’s parent company the Restaurant Group for £506m in 2023, has held initial talks with advisers to Costa owner the Coca-Cola Company, according to Sky News.

The process is said to be at an early stage with initial bids for the chain not due for several weeks.

It follows reports this week that Coca-Coca is considering a sale of Britain’s largest high street coffee chain, less than seven years after its acquisition.

Whitbread sold Costa to Coca-Cola in early 2019 after almost 25 years of ownership in a £3.9b deal. At the time, the drinks firm said it would create a “global coffee platform” in a move designed to broaden its portfolio from soft drinks.

However, analysts told Sky that the sale could lead to a multibillion-pound loss for Coca-Cola, with one source suggesting the coffee chain is now worth just £2b.

Costa reported a pre-tax loss of £9.6m in 2023, a major drop on the £245,950 profit posted in 2022.

The group was was founded by Italian brothers Sergio and Bruno Costa in 1971. 

It was sold to Whitbread for £19m in 1995, when it had less than 40 stores.

The chain is now a ubiquitous presence on the UK high street and operates around 2,600 cafes in the UK and Northern Ireland and more than 3,900 sites worldwide.

Apollo declined to comment.