Cadbury Schweppes said the demerger of its North American soft drinks business is set for May 7th.
The world's biggest confectioner said today it expected both Cadbury and the demerged Dr Pepper Snapple Group (DPSG) to have investment-grade capital structures as it signed definitive credit agreements for DPSG.
Cadbury said it will bring forward the date of its annual general meeting to April 11th from a planned mid-May date to coincide with other meetings to approve the demerger, while it will also give a trading update on the same day.
After the demerger, the standalone confectionery group Cadbury will have net debt of about £1.65 billion and DPSG, which will be listed on the New York Stock Exchange, will have net debt of about $3.8 billion, Cadbury said.