(Bloomberg) -- British billionaire Jim Ratcliffe’s Ineos Group is in exclusive talks to buy U.K. oil and gas fields from ConocoPhillips, the Sunday Times reported, without saying where it got the information.

The U.S. company plans to invite bids by the end of the year for its assets in the region, which would include what’s left of its holding in the Clair Field and could be valued at up to $3 billion in a sale, Bloomberg News first reported last week. The oil major confirmed that it’s marketing the U.K. assets after receiving an unsolicited offer, and said it would retain the business if proposed bids don’t meet its expectations.

Ineos has put down a deposit in return for three months’ exclusivity in negotiations, the newspaper said, adding that HSBC Holdings Plc and Citigroup Inc. are poised to provide financing. Private equity firms Neptune and Chrysaor are expected to take an interest if the talks with Ineos fail, according to the Sunday Times.

The interest from Ineos underscores Ratcliffe’s voracious appetite for dealmaking, fueled in part by earnings from his North American operations. The company last week agreed to buy a resins business from Ashland Global Holdings Inc. for $1.1 billion. The billionaire has built Ineos from scratch by borrowing and buying assets from companies including BP Plc, though the 2008 financial crisis had forced him to tap the brakes for a while.

Conoco in July announced a North Sea-for-Alaskan asset swap with BP. As part of that transaction, the Houston-based firm agreed to divest a 16.5 percent stake in the Clair Field for an undisclosed amount while retaining a 7.5 percent interest. The company is now offering that remaining stake as well as its Teesside oil terminal, the Sunday Times said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Adveith Nair in London at anair29@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: David Merritt at dmerritt1@bloomberg.net, Chitra Somayaji

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