[2007-11-20]  Borse Dubai to take over Nordic stock exchange operator by February, chief executive says
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates: Borse Dubai expects to close the deal to take over Nordic stock exchange operator OMX by February, its chief executive said Tuesday.

"We expect to close the deal by mid to end February," Per Larsson told Dow Jones Newswires. "We still need final approvals from the Baltic regulators and those in the United States."

Sweden's financial markets regulator on Nov. 12 approved Borse Dubai as owner of OMX, bringing the Gulf firm a step closer to sealing its US$4.9 billion (€3.3 billion) joint takeover bid for Stockholm-based company.

In September, Borse Dubai and Nasdaq struck a complex pact over OMX, the operator of stock exchanges in Stockholm, Helsinki, Copenhagen, Iceland and the Baltic countries.

After competing with each other for the exchange during a six-week period, Nasdaq and Borse Dubai joined efforts in the OMX takeover.


Under the terms of the deal, Borse Dubai would buy OMX and then transfer ownership to Nasdaq in return for almost 20 percent stake in the new company and Nasdaq's 28 percent stake in London Stock Exchange.

HSBC Bank is managing funds for the transaction.

Dubai will encourage dual-listing of shares from Nasdaq and OMX on the Dubai International Financial Exchange, or DIFX, as part of a plan to become the Middle East's top stock market, Larsson said.

"Nasdaq and OMX will help the DIFX roll out a capital market infrastructure. They will provide us with technology and experience," he was quoted as saying by Dow Jones Newswires.

As part of the OMX deal, Nasdaq will soon become a strategic shareholder of DIFX. The exchange is owned by Borse Dubai and will later be re-branded as Nasdaq-DIFX.

"The Nasdaq-DIFX branding is important since it will help us achieve the goal of becoming the region's financial exchange," Larsson said. "It will create linkages among the region's exchanges and support trading technologies."

DIFX has struggled to attract investor interest since the stock exchange was launched in 2005 as part of a plan to make Dubai a financial center to rival Hong Kong, New York and London.

Source: Copyright © 2007 the International Herald Tribune.