By Sarah Thompson
May 18 (Bloomberg) — U.K. stocks rose, led by Cadbury Schweppes Plc. Shares of BP Plc and Royal Dutch Shell Plc also increased.
The benchmark FTSE 100 Index added 19.10, or 0.3 percent, to 6598.40 as of 8:13 a.m. in London. The FTSE All-Share Index added 0.2 percent to 3428.54. Ireland’s ISEQ Index gained 0.1 percent to 9582.87.
Cadbury Schweppes advanced 3 percent to 693.5 pence. Two competing private-equity groups may bid for Cadbury’s U.S. drinks unit, with Canada’s Cott Corp. possibly also involved, the Daily Telegraph reported, citing people close to the situation.
The price of the subsidiary, which owns brands such as Dr Pepper, 7Up and Snapple, would be about 8 billion pounds ($15.8 billion), the newspaper said.
BP, Europe’s second-largest oil company, jumped 1.2 percent to 577.5. Shell, the region’s largest, rose 1.5 percent to 1858.
To contact the reporter on this story: Sarah Thompson in London at [email protected]
Last Updated: May 18, 2007 03:20 EDT
This website and sisters royaldutchshellgroup.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.