South Korea’s Daelim Industrial has joined the main bidding to acquire Williams Partners’ olefins plant in Geismar, Louisiana, USA, according to a report in the newspaper Korea Economic Daily. Williams announced last September that it would sell its majority 88.5% stake in the plant, or seek a long-term tolling agreement.

Daelim is said to have joined a “host of global chemical companies” to bid for the asset with the sale price expected to reach 2-3 trillion won ($1.8-2.7 billion). Quoting a source close to the bidding, the newspaper said: “If the final bidder attempts to acquire not only the ethane cracker but also pipelines for supply of natural gas, the acquisition price could rise up to more than 3 trillion won.

Last month, Williams said it expected final bids for the sale of the olefins facility late in the first quarter of 2017. In its fourth-quarter earnings 2016 release, the group said the sale was “positively progressing” and that it expects to raise more than $2 billion in after-tax proceeds from planned asset monetizations of Geismar and other select assets not core to our strategy. “We expect proceeds from these monetizations will be used for additional debt reduction and to fund capital and investment expenditures,” it added.