French drinks group Pernod Ricard, which owns Irish Distillers, is close to selling France's second-biggest soft drinks brand, Orangina, to Cadbury Schweppes in a #700 million (£551 million) deal.

The deal, if approved by regulators and Orangina's workers, would leave Pernod to focus on its spirits business after its recent buy of almost half of Seagram's drinks unit. It would double Cadbury's share of the French soft drinks market to 19 per cent.