Private equity giant Permira is expected to table a £600m bid for Britvic, which floated on the stock exchange last December.
Many investors have accused chief executive Paul Moody of not being up to the job and shares did not climb above the 230p issue price until last week.
Permira has already secretly built up a 5% stake in Britvic, which says it expects to hit the top end of City full-year expectations of £55m.
But one stumbling block could be a change-of-control clause held by PepsiCo, which has a bottling and distribution agreement with Britvic.
The Sunday Times
