 By 1998 Dr Pepper/Seven Up, a subsidiary of Cadbury Schweppes, was hindered by its bottling and distribution systems; owning no private bottling plants, it was dependent on independent bottlers or those controlled by Coca-Cola or Pepsi to bottle its beverages, and those two giant competitors also had better distribution systems and more influence with retail and fast-food chains.In February 1998 Cadbury Schweppes and U.S. private equity firm Carlyle Group formed a joint venture named the American Bottling Company, initially consisting of the merger of two leading independent bottling groups in the Midwest