Lotte enters a bid for Axiall

Vinyl products maker Axiall has a new bidder, Lotte Chemical, a South Korean petrochemical maker that is also Axiall’s partner in an ethylene project planned for Lake Charles, La. The unsolicited bid, reportedly for more than $2.6 billion, was disclosed in a regulatory filing in Seoul, South Korea, and inserts Lotte in the battle for control of the Atlanta-based firm. Westlake Chemical, whose latest $3.1 billion bid Axiall has already turned down as inadequate, is waging a proxy battle to replace Axiall directors at the latter’s June 17 shareholder meeting. In a filing with U.S. authorities, Axiall CEO Timothy Mann Jr. says his firm “has not made any decisions concerning the Lotte offer.”