Kuwait's Noor Financial mulls Delhi bourse stake

Kuwait, July 19:Kuwait's Noor Financial Investment Company said on Wednesday it plans to bid for a small stake in the New Delhi stock exchange as part of expansion into India.

''We plan to (submit a bid), we're looking at it,'' said Ahmed Farooq, director of foreign investment declining to provide details, saying the bourse was expected to sell only a maximum of 5 percent to a single investor.

''They have an interesting strategy for tapping small cap companies in India which are trying to raise funds from the public market,'' Farooq said.

In New Delhi, a Delhi Stock Exchange (DSE) official said Nour, Financial Technologies India Ltd. , and Horizon Asset Management of the United States were among investors interested in picking up stakes in the bourse.

DSE was aiming to raise up to 2.5 billion rupees (.82 million) by selling a 51 percent stake at 130-165 rupees a share, he said.

Each investor would be offered up to 5 percent stake. In May, DSE invited expression of interest from domestic and foreign investors who could help revive the exchange, which has not traded shares since 2004/05.

Farooq said Noor, owned by Kuwaiti conglomerate National Industries Group , was also looking at buying stakes in other companies in India.

''We are looking at several deals in India in the ...

outsourcing industry, and also in the telecommunications sector,'' he said, declining to be more specific.

Noor is also considering more investments in Pakistan where the firm bought a stake in the Karachi Electrical Supply Co. in 2006, Farooq said.

Reuters >