Reliance Industries Ltd has further raised the bid for acquiring LyondellBasell Industries to $14.5 billion. LyondellBasell is a petrochemicals major facing bankruptcy.

Reliance plans to acquire the firm after it exits bankruptcy under its restructuring plan. The offer if goes through would give the Indian firm a minority stake in Lyondell and control of the board.

The new bid offers cash to some more creditors or the option to receive stock in the restructured Lyondell. Reliance offered higher price after the board of Lyondell had rejected sweetened offer of $13.5 billion. The first offer had valued the firm at just $12 billion.

Both the companies did not officially comment on the development. If the deal goes through, the new entity will emerge as a major player in the energy and chemicals with combined revenue of more than $80 billion.

However Reliance still faces stiff competition from the creditors who are working out their own plan to restructure the company. In the plan, creditors would take control of the company against forgiving $18 billion in debt. The investors also plan to sell $2.8 billion stock of the company and buying additional shares to take the company out of bankruptcy.

The creditor's plan has valued the company at $15.5 billion which is higher than Reliance's latest offer. Reliance has been trying hard to win the company by providing a more viable option than the restructuring plan by its creditors.

Reliance Group is one of the biggest business houses in India with revenue of over $28 billion. It operates one of the biggest oil refineries in the world in Gujrat with a capacity to process 1.24 million barrels of crude per day.

The company sees great synergies and wants to gain access to Lyondell's expertise in high-end plastics. Companies plan to create up to $1 billion in cost savings for the company after the acquisition.

Lyondell filed for bankruptcy more than a year ago due to falling sales and cash shortages. A court in the US will hold a hearing on the restructuring plan.

Reliance on the hand has also expressed interest in buying Canadian firm Value Creation Inc. which owns oil fields in the country.

Shares of Reliance Industries rose .4 percent to Rs 1,000.