In a dramatic development in one of Asia’s longest running debt workouts, Beijing-backed Citic Resources on Thursday announced that it was in talks to buy Thai Petrochemical Industry through a joint venture with Prachai Leophairatana, founder of the troubled petrochemicals group.

In a statement, Citic Resources said its subsidiary, Citic Petrochemical, on May 30 signed a non-binding memorandum of understanding with Mr Prachai and other TPI shareholders regarding the acquisition of about 75 per cent of TPI’s existing issued share capital.