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German chemicals giant BASF SE (BAS.XE) is close to selling most of its nitrogen fertilizer assets to Norway's Yara International ASA (YAR.OS), Bloomberg news agency reported late Wednesday, citing two unnamed people close to the matter.

BASF Thursday said it doesn't comment on market speculation.

A Yara spokesman told Dow Jones Newswires Thursday that "Yara is interested in buying at the right price and has placed a bid," adding the company is now waiting for the bidding process to conclude.

Talks are advancing and the companies could reach an initial agreement by late September, Bloomberg quotes one of the people close to the situation as saying.

Egypt's Orascom Construction Industries (OCIC.CI) is also in the running, Bloomberg reports, although Yara is the frontrunner. Orascom wasn't immediately available for comment Thursday.

BASF said in March it planned to sell major parts of its fertilizer activities, including production plants in Antwerp and BASF's 50% share of the joint venture PEC-Rhin in Ottmarsheim, France.

BASF had originally aimed to complete the sale by the first quarter of 2012, however "we hope it will happen sooner," a BASF spokesman told Dow Jones Newswires Thursday.

News agency website: http://www.bloomberg.com/

-Frankfurt Bureau, Dow Jones Newswires; 49-69-29725-500.