Dubai to Buy Large Stake in Nasdaq - Expected To Become Largest Single Investor

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Dubai to Buy Large Stake in Nasdaq

By JOSEPH B. TREASTER
Published: September 20, 2007

The government-controlled stock exchange in Dubai, the fast-growing Middle East business center, is expected to announce today in Stockholm that it plans to take significant ownership in the Nasdaq stock exchange in New York and the London Stock Exchange, people who have been briefed on the transaction said last night.

If the deal is completed, Dubai would become the first Middle East government to own a large stake in an American stock exchange. It also is expected to become the largest single investor in Nasdaq.

The deal by the Borse Dubai would give Dubai a stake of 20 percent to 30 percent in Nasdaq, the largest electronic stock market in America, and about 30 percent in the London Stock Exchange, according to people who have been briefed.

In exchange, Dubai would hand over to Nasdaq the OMX Group, a stock exchange based in Stockholm that also operates in Helsinki, Copenhagen and several other countries in Scandinavia and the Baltic States.

more at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/20/business/worldbusiness/20exchange.html?_r=2&hp=&adxnnl=1&oref=slogin&adxnnlx=1190276840-/X24tc4dOAeuLmvlgCK0gA&oref=slogin