InterContinental Hotels has announced its intention to list its Britvic drinks business on the London Stock Exchange.

Coinciding with the company’s announcement of its first full year figures since its split from Mitchells & Butlers (M&B) last year, it also announced that it would continue to offload a number of its non-performing properties.

Britvic, a subsidiary of Britannia Soft Drinks (BSD), was partly owned by Pepsico and was responsible for the distribution of Pepsi and 7Up in the UK.

This had made the sale of Britvic impossible in the past, as Pepsi was reluctant to take the risk of a bid for its bottling contract from fierce rivals Coca Cola.

Now, Pepsi has agreed to swap its 10 per cent stake in Britvic for a five per cent stake in BSD and has also signed a 15-year bottling contract with BSD.

This has allowed InterContinental – which owns BSD with Allied Domecq and Whitbread – to float Britvic sometime between 2005 and 2008

Analysts estimate Britvic’s market value at around £900m, but it could rise to up to £1bn.

Britvic amassed sales of £674m last year, while operating profits came in at £83m.

InterContinental announced that it had already sold 21 hotels for £270m since the de-merger from M&B and up to 50 more properties out of the 172 could go under the hammer. Details:www.ichotelsgroup.com