EADS stake on $10-15 bln Gulf shopping list

DUBAI, Nov 9 (Reuters) A Dubai-managed Gulf Arab fund is considering buying stakes in Airbus parent EADS and several German firms to build a $10-15 billion portfolio, a senior Dubai official said on Thursday.

The fund will conduct due diligence on EADS and hold talks with Siemens, Deutsche Lufthansa, BASF, MAN and other German firms on taking stakes in them, said Sameer al-Ansari chief executive of Dubai International Capital (DIC).

The government of Dubai, commercial hub of the world's top oil-exporting region, owns DIC and Emirates airline, a major customer of Airbus, whose shares have been hit by delays to its A380 superjumbo. Emirates is the biggest buyer of the A380.

''Share prices are on their knees, Airbus is a major problem.

Where there is a problem there is usually an opportunity,'' Ansari told Reuters in an interview. ''We will definitely be talking to them as part of our fact-finding homework. Due diligence we will do on several companies.'' EADS Chief Financial Officer Hans Peter Ring had been a late entry on the list of executives attending a conference in Dubai on Saturday of the fund's potential acquisition targets.

Asked whether DIC, which will manage the fund, has had discussions with EADS about becoming a shareholder, Ansari said: ''Those discussions will begin when he is here.'' EADS shares surged on the news and were more than 5.44 percent up at 1209 GMT. The company said it welcomed interest from any investor.

FIX AIRBUS EADS swung to a third-quarter operating loss after delays to the A380 drove away major customer FedEx and led to 1 billion euros ($1.28 billion) in charges.

''How much will it cost to fix it? How long will it take? Should we be investing today or should we come back in a year's time or is this going to be a dog forever?'' said Ansari.

He likened the EADS opportunity to that presented by DaimlerChrysler when Dubai International Capital bought a billion-dollar stake in January, 2005, becoming the automaker's third-largest shareholder.

When asked if he was planning to reduce DIC's stake in DaimlerChrysler, he said: ''At the right time, right price, yes.'' State agencies from Qatar and Abu Dhabi are among investors in the fund, which will raise $2 billion over the next three to six months. The fund would then leverage that capital and spend $10-$15 billion over the next few years, Ansari said.

None of the fund's targets confirmed news of its interest.

Lufthansa said it knew nothing of plans to discuss the sale of a stake. Industrial conglomerate Siemens said it was open towards expressions of interest and chemicals maker BASF said it was always interested in winning new investors.

REUTERS SBA RN2033