(Adds details and background from paragraph 2 onwards) May 22...

(Adds details and background from paragraph 2 onwards)

May 22 (Reuters) - Namoi Cotton (NAM) on Wednesday asked shareholders to reject Dutch commodity merchant Louis Dreyfus' A$138.6 million ($92.39 million) offer to take full control of the cotton ginning firm, citing a better offer by Singapore's Olam Agri IPO-OLAA.SI .

Louis Dreyfus Company (LDC) has been engaged in a bidding war for Namoi Cotton with Olam Agri, which had previously made an offer valuing the Australian company at A$144.9 million.

"LDC Offer price of A$0.67 per share is A$0.03 below the Olam Offer price per share," Namoi said in a statement.

An independent expert concluded that LDC's offer was not fair and reasonable in light of Olam's offer, the company added.

Namoi's recommendation comes when LDC, which owns around 17% stake in the company, was already facing regulatory hurdles regarding its proposal, after the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission flagged its concerns last week.

Namoi is still assessing Olam Agri's offer and has made no recommendation regarding the same.

A deal would help both the bidders expand their footprint in Australia. Olam already owns ginning facilities in parts of the country, whereas Louis Dreyfus previously acquired U.S. based Dunavant Enterprises' cotton operations in Australia. ($1 = 1.5002 Australian dollars)