P&G; Will Sell Crush to Cadbury Schweppes

Procter & Gamble Co. has agreed to sell its Crush International beverage operations to Cadbury Schweppes PLC, the British candy and beverage giant, for $220 million in cash, the companies announced Thursday.

Procter & Gamble, a Cincinnati-based consumer products company that operates worldwide, had been searching since May for a buyer for the soft drink line. The company purchased Crush in 1980 for about $50 million and then bought Crush’s Canadian operations in 1984 for an estimated $10 million.

Procter & Gamble said it was selling the Crush unit to devote more time and resources to other beverages, including Folgers coffee, Citrus Hill juices, and Sundor fruit juices and drinks. Procter & Gamble had $21.4 billion in worldwide sales in the fiscal year ended June 30.

P&G;’s 290 worldwide Crush employees--about 215 of those are in the United States--will be transferred to other positions within Procter & Gamble, company spokesman Donald Tassone said.

The cash acquisition would give Cadbury the Crush brands in North America, Europe, Latin America, the Middle East and Africa. That unit, which includes the Crush soft drinks and Hires root beer labels, had sales of $71 million for the first half of this year.