Apparently Cadbury Schweppes P.L.C. wanted to be a Pepper too: on this day in 1995, the British candy and cola giant snapped up the Dr. Pepper/Seven-Up Company. For a price-tag of $1.7 billion, Cadbury Schweppes, whose arsenal of products already included A&W root beer, Canada Dry, and Crush and Sunkist fruit colas, picked up the United States' third-biggest soft drink concern. The acquisition left Cadbury Schweppes with 17 percent of America's $49 billion soda market, putting it just behind Coca-Cola and Pepsico in the field. Still, the acquisition of Dr. Pepper and its $829 million in debts was not without some risk, especially for Cadbury Schweppes, which was already saddled with its own debt of roughly $874 million. Wall Street, however, chose to ignore the flood of red ink and quickly warmed to the deal. Dr. Pepper's stock shot to a record close of $32.50 on the NYSE, while Cadbury's American shares climbed by $1.125 to end the day at $26.75.