Cadbury Schweppes revealed today that the billionaire financier Nelson Peltz had built a 3 per cent stake in the company, sending its shares up 10.46 per cent on hopes that he would attempt a break-up.

The new price values the company, the maker of Dairy Milk chocolate, Trident chewing gum and the Dr Pepper drinks, at close to £13 billion.

Cadbury shares closed today up 57p to 602p, having reached 609.5p in intraday trading.

Mr Peltz sold the Snapple drinks company to Cadbury in 2000 for £750 million — five times what he paid Quaker Oats for it three years earlier.

Trian Fund Management, his activist investment company, shook up the food giant Heinz last year after buying a 5.5 per cent stake and winning a vote to place himself on the board as a non-executive.

He has since pushed Heinz to cut spending and focus on direct marketing to consumers.

There is speculation that he may seek to break up Cadbury, splitting the US drinks business from the chocolate and sweets side.

Mr Peltz, 64, also got his nominees elected to the board of Wendy's, after calling for the hamburger chain to consider selling its Baja Fresh chain.

He began his career in 1963, when he joined his family food business.

Todd Stitzer, the Cadbury chief executive, has come under pressure from shareholders after the recall of some Cadbury's Milk Chocolate brands in the UK after salmonella contamination and a Nigerian accounting scandal.

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