Lotte Shopping and E-Mart, two of Korea’s major retail giants, on Monday denied making a bid for smaller hypermarket chain Kim’s Club.

“We hereby officially deny media reports that our company is among the bidders shortlisted for the takeover of Kim’s Club,” E-Mart said in a regulatory filing.

In a separate filing on the day, Lotte Shopping also denied any bid. 

Rumors have been brewing as to which of the country’s retailers is among the three bidders shortlisted for the acquisition of the 37-branch franchise with annual revenue of around 1 trillion won.

E-Land on Feb. 22 announced that it has narrowed the field the candidates down to three, which includes at least one strategic investor engaged in retail business. It did not disclose names of the three.

The group, seeking to secure cash through the sale, has put its flagship and highly profitable department store in southern Seoul on offer along with Kim’s Club in a bid to drum up interest for the deal. Observers say it could fetch as much as 2 trillion won ($1.6 billion).

With the denials of Lotte and E-Mart, the attention has now shifted toward other retail firms Hyundai Department Store, GS Retail, Nonghyup and Homeplus for a potential bid.

By Lee Sun-young (milaya@heraldcorp.com)