Allenberg Cotton Co. and Dunavant Enterprises Inc., both based in Memphis and once fixtures on the iconic stretch of Front Street that used to be a thriving hub of cotton commerce, are in talks to combine their operations.

“We are deep into negotiations, but we have not finalized everything yet,” Allenberg CEO Joseph Nicosia told The Daily News Thursday morning. “We’re both optimistic and have a positive outlook on the potential outcome. And we’re going to continue moving down that road, going through our due diligence process and talking to employees.”

Allenberg is a division of Louis Dreyfus Commodities. Nicosia would not comment on what prompted the merger talks.

Dunavant CEO William B. Dunavant III said the talks are still in progress but that both companies felt they were far enough along that a public statement should be made.

“Dunavant Enterprises and (Allenberg) are in discussion of a potential transaction to merge their global cotton operations,” Dunavant said. “Dunavant and Dreyfus are obviously very active participants in the world cotton market, and we believe this merger will be a very positive event for both companies as well as the industry. We will be providing details of the transaction as the negotiations continue, and the details of the transaction have not yet been finalized.”