ESSENTA, the food company formed by the merger of Greencore and Northern Foods, said the tie-up may lead to job losses at the combined group.

"The board recognises that in order to achieve the planned benefits of the merger some operational restructuring will be required following completion of the merger, which is likely to lead to some redundancies where the businesses have overlapping functions," Greencore said in a 304-page document sent to its investors just before Christmas which details the terms of the merger with Northern Foods.

"No decisions will be taken regarding any redundancies until a business review has been undertaken following completion of the merger and appropriate consultation with employee representatives has occurred," it added.

Greencore has about 7,000 employees spread across Ireland and Europe. The company has said the merger will lead to savings of about €46m in three years.

Investors will have their say on whether to accept the deal, which will see Greencore take a 50% stake in Essenta, later this month.

The merger creates one of the largest sandwich and ready-meals producers in Europe. Greencore's chief executive, Patrick Coveney, will become the head of Essenta, which will be primarily listed on the London stock market.

However, while some of the two companies' institutional investors have said they will vote in favour of the merger, Indian businessman Ranjit Boporan, who owns the Harry Ramsdens take-away chain, has said he is considering mounting a bid for Northern Foods. Boporan has built up a stake of 6.6% in Northern Foods.

In a statement late last month, Northern Foods said Boporan made no firm offer and it believed its investors should back the deal with Greencore.

Should the merger between Greencore and Northern Foods not go ahead, the Irish company will get a "break fee" of around €2.1m.