On Monday 23 May, the CCPC issued a statement on its website, saying: "The proposed acquisition by Amber Real Estate Investments (Ireland) Limited from Grove Turkeys of sole control over certain assets constituting Grove Farm has been cleared by the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission."

The CCPC was notified of Boparan's intention to acquire Grove Farm's turkey business, based in Monaghan, Ireland, on Tuesday 12 April.

Back then a spokesperson for 2 Sisters told the Irish Farmers Journal that the investment will be held by one of Boparan’s private holding companies and sit outside the British meat processing group.

The sale is being conducted through the Irish-based company Amber Real Estate Investments (Ireland) Ltd, which was created specifically for the purposes of this transaction.

Grove Farm

Grove Turkeys was founded by the Cosgrove brothers in 1972 and purchased by Kerry Group in 1988. Kerry then sold it through a management buy-out in 2006 to current managing director Thomas O’Driscoll, operations director Brendan Maguire and agricultural director Stephen O’Halloran.

Grove Turkeys had a turnover of €25m and processed 1m turkeys last year, according to company figures. It is known in the industry as Ireland’s largest turkey producer.

2 Sisters

Owner of 2 Sisters Boparan has built on a huge poultry business by adding a wide range of food brands, including Green Isle Foods and Donegal Catch.

In 2013, he acquired 11 UK sites operated by Vion, allowing 2 Sisters to expand its poultry operation and take it into red-meat processing with the St Merryn factories based in Wales and southwest England and the McIntosh Donald factory in Aberdeenshire, Scotland.

Last year, 2 Sisters made operating profits of £59m after sales of more than £3.1bn. But carrying a net debt of more than £687m (€552m), it is highly geared with a net debt-to-earnings ratio of almost four times.

Eoin Lowry and Lorcan Allen contributed reporting to this story

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