BUSINESS BRIEFS
Coke may have Snapple thirst
Advertiser Staff and News Services
ATLANTA — The Coca-Cola Co. is exploring whether to buy Cadbury Schweppes PLC's Snapple iced tea brand or build its own tea brand, a spokesman said yesterday.
"We're always looking at whether to build or buy," spokesman Dana Bolden said, confirming a comment by Chief Executive Neville Isdell to a reporter during a social economic conference in Geneva.
Bolden declined to say if Atlanta-based Coca-Cola has approached some private equity funds that have reportedly been involved in bidding for Cadbury's U.S. drinks business, which includes the Snapple brand.
EU WARNED OF BIOFUEL'S HARM
BRUSSELS, Belgium — Europe must act to prevent a biofuel boom tearing down rain forests to produce the low-emission fuel rich nations want for their cars, EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson will say in a speech today.
EU nations have vowed to replace 10 percent of transport fuel with biofuel made from energy crops by 2020 in an effort to wean itself off imported oil and cut down on carbon dioxide emissions.
But Mandelson said the EU could not allow the switch to biofuels to become "an environmentally unsustainable stampede in the developing world."
PFIZER ASKS $2B SUIT DISMISSAL
KANO, Nigeria — Pfizer Inc. asked a Nigerian court yesterday to dismiss a civil case seeking $2 billion in damages over allegations that the company conducted a drug experiment that led to deaths and disabilities among children more than a decade ago.
Pfizer has denied those charges.
