British chemicals group Ineos is in talks with "several parties" regarding a deal which could see it bring a new investor on board or sell assets, says chief executive Tom Crotty, according to the Sunday Times. The newspaper said that the suitors for indebted Ineos included Saudi Arabian state-controlled chemicals company Sabic and Kuwait's Petrochemical Industries Company.

Crotty declined to name the parties and said that talks were at a "preliminary" stage. Sabic declined to comment when contacted by Reuters, while no one at Ineos or Petrochemical Industries Company was immediately available to comment.