Britain's Cadbury Schweppes Plc on Thursday said it was planning to split its global confectionery division and its American soft drinks into two separate businesses to help unlock value for shareholders.

The move comes after Cadbury, the world's largest confectionery group, revealed on Tuesday that U.S. activist investor Nelson Peltz had taken a 2.98 percent stake and analysts said Peltz would pressure Cadbury to split into two.

Cadbury shares ended on Wednesday at 602 pence valuing the group at 12.6 billion pounds ($24.2 billion), but analysts said if the group was split into two focused groups its combined value would increase significantly.

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