The Lemon Fool

I see they have completed the Costa Sale and received the £3.9 billion in cash!

https://www.investegate.co.uk/whitbread ... 22011414M/

I understand that they will announce details in mid Feb of how they return most of the proceeds, meanwhile they are going to do a £500m share buyback and have agreed to put £380m into the pension scheme so everyone is happy.

I sold WTB on a free dealing day last November, to avoid ending up with a low yield rump holding in my portfolio. Most of that return was already baked into the price I think.

Bought once in November 2008, and sold a decade later. Totting up all the dividends and final sale price WTB returned an xirr of 20.8% over that time.

Was sorry to see it go, but time to move on.

It looks like most of the return of the Costa proceeds will be via a tender offer. In Barclays recent upgrade of the shares they say:-

"Barclays noted the company's capital markets day on 13 February and said it expects this to be a positive catalyst as Whitbread is likely to announce new cost-cutting targets and a £2.5bn tender offer, and update the market on its German plans. It also expects management to outline a medium-term leverage target."

The market normally knows what is happening in these matters, although nothing has been announced on the method of cash return. If so, that is good as it gives shareholders the option between realising a large profit and paying a large CGT bill or keeping the money in WTB and owning a larger percentage of the business.