Whitbread has been clear for a while that it wanted to offload Costa, and had initially planned to spin off the company from its main business. However, it settled on a sale after an approach from Coca-Cola in June.
On the surface, the move makes sense for both sides of the deal, with Whitbread earning significantly more from the sale than it would have from a spin out, and Coca-Cola getting a well established brand in a space it is looking to enter.
But how are analysts in the City of London and on Wall Street reacting to the news, one of the biggest leisure deals of 2018 so far? To find out, Business Insider rounded up some of the notes and analysis circulated on Friday.
Check them out below.