Beverage maker Coca-Cola has entered exclusive talks to pick up a significant stake in the country’s largest coffee chain Café Coffee Day (CCD) as the soft drinks giant looks to gain a foothold in the rapidly growing cafés space and hedge risks associated with its core carbonated drinks business, two officials in the knowledge of the development said. The officials from the beverage company have stated that the talks are in the early stages.
The officials further stated that the global team is engaged in active talks with the Coffee Day management and the acquisition will give Coca-Cola a significant boost in the fast-growing cafe business. Café Coffee Day is owned by Coffee Day Global, a subsidiary of Coffee Day Enterprises. With a footprint of 1,750 cafes, CCD continues to be the market leader in the organized café space and competes with Starbucks and smaller coffee chains such as Barista and Costa Coffee.
Coca Cola had earlier in 2018 announced the global acquisition of UK based coffee chain Costa Coffee from its parent company Whitebread for a whopping $5.1 billion. Costa Coffee, which is operated by RJ Corp in India, has less than 50 operational stores in the country presently. The first Café Coffee Day was set up in India in 1996. Internationally, CCD has a presence in Vienna, Czech Republic, Malaysia Nepal, and Egypt.
