Dunnes Stores has plans to acquire two meat wholesaling businesses -- Whelan Food & Meat Processors and Tipperary Sustainable Food Company - in Ireland.
This moves comes after Dunnes Stores recently bought Café Sol chain of coffee shops.
Whelan also operates several high-end butchers' outlets, which includes outlets at Avoca stores; however, these are not part of the deal.
The transaction has only entered into a preliminary phase as per the rules required by the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC), reported Irish Times.
The submissions are to be made by 1 February.
It is still not known whether Dunnes intends to incorporate the brand in-store in its busiest outlets, which is what the company did in the case of Café Sol chain.
Whelan Food and Meat Processors is owned by Pat Whelan, a renowned butcher in Tipperary.
Wheelan also owns the James Whelan Butchers in Clonmel.
Since 2010, Whelan Food and Meat Processors has been operating as an unlimited firm, reported Independent.ie.
Tipperary Sustainable Food is co-owned by Easi-build, which is owned by Dublin-based Ernie Kenny, who holds interests in James Whelan Butchers.
