Tesco (LON:TSCO) plans to sell its South Korean business to a consortium led by South Korean private equity firm MBK Partners for US$6.4bn, according to reports.
The UK supermarket group has named MBK as the preferred bidder ahead of rivals KKR, which teamed up with local firm Affinity, and Carlyle Group, the Financial Times cited unidentified sources as saying.
South Korea's National Pension Service, the Canada Pension Plan and Singapore's Temasek are also backing the bid, the FT said.
Tesco is off-loading non-core businesses and closing its head office in Cheshunt, Hertfordshire, as part of a shake-up by chief executive Dave Lewis following accounting problems and several profit warnings.
The group and its other major rivals have been struggling to keep market share and customers in the face of competition from discounters such as Aldi and Lidl.
Former Carlyle Group managers founded MBK, which targets investments in Asia.