Drinks and confectionary giant Cadbury Schweppes is to splash out £1.03 billion buying soft drinks company Snapple Beverage Group.

The buy, from US food and drinks giant Triarc Companies, will see Cadbury take control of the Snapple tea, fruit drink and juice brand, which generates 98 per cent of its sales in the US and Canada.

It will also gain the Mistic fruit drink brand, Stewart's flavoured sodas and root beer labels and Royal Crown Cola.

John Sunderland, Cadbury's chief executive said: "The acquisition of the Snapple Beverage Group will significantly expand Cadbury Schweppes' position in the US soft drinks market."

He added the buy would boost the group's "New Age" drinks sector and complement "our leading position in flavoured carbonated soft drinks".

Cadbury's added the Snapple group was the leading player in the US premium beverage market - drinks sold for higher prices than carbonated soft drinks.

The buy comes just three years after Snapple was bought by Triarc for just £214.3 million from US food group Quaker Oats, which had in turn bought the Snapple company in 1994 for a much greater £1.2 billion.

For Cadbury the buy focuses it further on the US soft drinks market, where it is keen to grow, along with its aim of expanding in Europe and Australia.

And the deal will add to the group's existing Schweppes, Dr Pepper and 7 Up brands, and its US labels, Mott's apple and Clamato juices.