Latte king Costa Coffee is to go it alone following pressure from activist shareholders on Whitbread, the global coffee chain's parent company, a statement said Wednesday. UK company Whitbread, which will hold onto hotel chain Premier Inn, said the spin-off is part of a restructuring drive that is set to be completed within two years.
"Given the progress Whitbread is making, we are confident that both Premier Inn and Costa will soon be businesses of sufficient strength, scale and capability to enable them to thrive as independent companies," Whitbread chief executive Alison Brittain said in the statement.
"The board, therefore, believes that it is in the best long-term interests of Whitbread's many stakeholders to separate Premier Inn and Costa, via a demerger of Costa," she added. Analysts welcomed the move. "A cleaner operation should enable greater operational focus and afford investors greater clarity on profit and cash generation," said analyst Greg Johnson at Shore Capital.
Whitbread's announcement comes after activist investor, US group Elliott last week became its biggest shareholder with a six percent interest. "The question will of course arise over whether CEO Alison Brittain jumped or was pushed into this proposal by the arrival of two activist investors on the shareholder register," said Laith Khalaf, senior analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown stockbrokers. Whitbread bought Costa in 1995 from founders Sergio and Bruno Costa and presently runs about 2,400 stores in the UK and some 1,400 around the world.
Its shops are popular with a wide array of coffee lovers, ranging from students in London, to journalists and Beirut, and tourists in Paris. Premier Inn has 785 hotels in the UK plus some more in Germany and the Middle East.