BWG group, which operates the Spar and Mace convenience store franchises in Ireland, has appointed IBI Corporate Finance to advise the group on its future ownership options.
A spokesman for the group said yesterday that the process was at a "very early stage" and that any further comment would be made at the appropriate time.
Some analysts estimate that the group may carry a price tag of up to €300 million.
Its biggest shareholder, Electra Partners, owns 65 per cent of the company and is expected to exit the business. Businessman John Clohisey owns 20 per cent of the business and a number of Spar shops. BWG chief executive Leo Crawford, together with its staff, own 15 per cent.
A number of expressions of interest are believed to have been made to the company.
The company controls a group of 900 convenience stores in Ireland and the UK. BWG Retail operates the Spar, Eurospar and Mace franchises in the Republic. It also has a wholesale cash-and-carry arm with 24 outlets and a food service unit that supplies the catering industry.
In the UK it owns Appleby Westwood, which is a Spar wholesaler in south-west England.
Last month the group reported that its operating profit increased by 18 per cent to €55 million. Turnover rose to more than €1.66 billion.
It has already announced plans to sell off as much as €€90 million worth of property, mostly in Dublin, to its franchisees.
The company expects to complete the exercise by September as it cashes in on the real estate boom to focus on its core wholesale and retail distribution business.
:quality(70)/cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/irishtimes/VR3765MFOBH2NMV2QNICYDF67M.png)