• MSNBC/Reuters, Thursday, March 15, 2007 11:46 AM

Cadbury Schweppes--the world's largest confectionery maker--plans to split its confectionery and American drinks businesses either through a de-merger or the sale of the drinks unit. The choice will be announced on June 19. The core confectionery side will contain Dairy Milk chocolate and Trident chewing gum, while the soft-drinks side will own the Dr Pepper and Snapple brands. Analysts say private-equity groups like Lion Capital and Blackstone might now bid for the soft-drinks side, while Kraft Foods, Hershey and even Wm. Wrigley Jr. could be interested in the confectionery products.

Cadbury disclosed on Tuesday that U.S. activist investor Nelson Peltz had taken a 2.98% stake. Analysts said at the time that Peltz would urge Cadbury to split in the same way he had pressured other companies--such as H.J. Heinz--into change.

Cadbury became the world's biggest confectionery group when it bought the U.S. Adams chewing-gum business in 2003 for $4.2 billion, but since 1999, it's been selling off its non-core soft drinks.

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