Cadbury Schweppes PLC may be set to ditch Schweppes after hiring investment bankers Goldman Sachs to find a buyer for its European soft drinks business, the Independent on Sunday reported, without citing sources.

The company sold the U.K. rights to the brand to Coca-Cola in the 1990s, and although it sells Schweppes products in the U.S., the business is secondary to the group's other major soft drinks brands -- Dr Pepper, Seven Up and Canada Dry, the paper said.

It is expected that after any sale, the group will revert to the Cadbury name it used before its merger with Schweppes in 1969. Goldman Sachs has been reviewing the business, which also boasts the Orangina and Oasis brands, for Cadbury chief Todd Stitzer.

A spokesman for Cadbury Schweppes declined to comment.

Source: Independent on Sunday (U.K.)