Cadbury Schweppes has decided not to sell off its North American soft drinks unit, but will demerge it instead.
The London-based confectionary and beverages firm, also said in a trading statement it had seen very strong third-quarter confectionery revenue growth of 10%.
The demerger will require a number of approvals and rulings and the group predicts it will the second quarter of 2008 before the demerger is completed.
Larry Young, current chief executive of the bottling operation, is to take over the beverage business as current head Gil Cassagne is resigning for personal reasons.
Cadbury Schweppes said a restructuring will lead to the loss of 470 jobs in the business.
