• Bloomberg, Wednesday, October 10, 2007 12:30 PM

Cadbury Schweppes is abandoning the sale of its U.S. drinks unit--the maker of Dr Pepper and 7-Up--and will instead list the Americas Beverages division on the New York Stock Exchange. Although the seven-month search for a buyer was derailed by collapsing credit markets, CEO Todd Stitzer hasn't ruled out a sale completely, saying that he'll pursue "whatever creates most value for shareholders."

Stitzer declined to comment on a Wall Street Journal report that Cadbury had met with members of Hershey Co.'s controlling trust to discuss a partnership. The decision leaves Cadbury to focus on increasing sales and margins at Dairy Milk chocolate and Trident gum. Stitzer said today that confectionery sales rose 10% in Europe for the quarter. In the U.S., sales increased 14%, boosted by sales of Stride gum. Cadbury expanded its market share by 3% from the previous year.

Cadbury also named Larry Young to head the Americas Beverage unit, replacing Gil Cassagne, who left for "personal reasons." Young, who worked for PepsiCo for 25 years, joined Cadbury in 2006.

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