1.   

On 20 November 2018, the Commission received notification of a proposed concentration pursuant to Article 4 of Council Regulation (EC) No 139/2004 (1).

This notification concerns the following undertakings:

—	The Coca-Cola Company (‘TCCC’, United States of America),

—	Costa Limited (‘Costa’, United Kingdom), controlled by Whitbread Group plc.

TCCC acquires within the meaning of Article 3(1)(b) of the Merger Regulation sole control of the whole of Costa.

The concentration is accomplished by way of purchase of shares.

2.   

The business activities of the undertakings concerned are:

—   for TCCC: licensing of brands and various trademarks used to market and sell non-alcoholic commercial beverages, sale of syrups and concentrates to authorised bottling and canning operations and fountain retailers, production and sale of finished beverages globally,

—   for Costa: operation of coffee shops in a limited number of EU Member States through equity and franchise stores, wholesale of packaged, roast and ground coffee, operation of hot beverage vending machines.

3.   

On preliminary examination, the Commission finds that the notified transaction could fall within the scope of the Merger Regulation. However, the final decision on this point is reserved.

4.   

The Commission invites interested third parties to submit their possible observations on the proposed operation to the Commission.

Observations must reach the Commission not later than 10 days following the date of this publication. The following reference should always be specified:

M.9122 — TCCC/Costa

Observations can be sent to the Commission by email, by fax, or by post. Please use the contact details below:

Email: COMP-MERGER-REGISTRY@ec.europa.eu

Fax +32 22964301

Postal address:

European Commission

Directorate-General for Competition

Merger Registry

1049 Bruxelles/Brussel

BELGIQUE/BELGIË