Coca-Cola has announced it is planning to acquire the Costa Coffee chain.

The company is set to buy the chain from parent company Whitbread for £3.9 billion (€4.3bn).

Costa has almost 4,000 outlets across dozens of countries in Europe, Asia, the Middle East and Africa.

Announcing the acquisition, Coca-Cola President and CEO James Quincey said: “Hot beverages is one of the few segments of the total beverage landscape where Coca-Cola does not have a global brand.

"Costa gives us access to this market with a strong coffee platform.”

Costa Managing Director Dominic Paul added that he believes the acquisition will allow the chain to grow "farther and faster".

The deal needs to be approved by Whitbread shareholders, as well as competition authorities in the EU and China.

However, Coca-Cola says it expects the deal to be closed in the first half of 2019.

Costa was founded in London in 1971, and recorded revenue of £1.3bn (€1.45bn) over the last fiscal year.