Coca-Cola holds last-ditch talks in bid to salvage Costa Coffee sale, FT reports

Dec 13 (Reuters) – U.S. soft drinks company Coca-Cola's proposed sale of Costa Coffee is at risk of collapsing, with the company holding last-ditch talks this weekend with private equity firm TDR Capital in an effort to salvage the deal, the Financial Times reported on Saturday, citing people familiar with the matter. TDR was selected as Coca-Cola's preferred bidder earlier this week, but talks have stumbled over the price, the report said, adding that the deal includes the soft drinks giant retaining a minority stake in the British coffee chain. Reuters could not immediately verify the report. TDR declined to comment. Coca-Cola did not immediately respond to a request for comment. In August, Coca-Cola was said to be working with investment bank Lazard to review options, including a potential sale, of Costa, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters. Lazard also did not respond to a request for comment. In 2018, Britain's Whitbread Plc sold Costa to Coca-Cola for an enterprise value of $5.1 billion. (Reporting by Harshita Meenaktshi in BengaluruEditing by Peter Graff)

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