Cadbury had the misfortune to encounter the market dip as it seeks to off-load its American soft drinks business and in the wake of interim results which were seen as disappointing in the City. Martin Deboo, an analyst at banking group Investec, said: "Cadbury is trying to separate its American soft drinks business, but the market is taking increasing fright because it is almost impossible to sell the business to private equity companies in America because of the credit crunch over there. "There have been stories that Cadbury had decided to float off the business instead.