Dubai 'set to bid for Nordic OMX'

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The Dubai stock exchange is expected to make a formal bid to buy Nordic exchange OMX, according to reports.

The exchange is tipped to make an offer of about $4.03bn (£2bn), which could scupper Nasdaq's $3.7bn bid for the Swedish-based exchange.

OMX runs the Nordic Exchange, which gives investors access to leading firms in Scandinavia and the Baltic states.

Last week the Dubai International Financial Centre, parent of the Dubai exchange, upped its OMX stake to 27.4%.

Consolidation

The Dubai exchange recently bought OMX shares for 230 kronor each, according to Borse Dubai.

That figure marked a 11% increase on Nasdaq's 208.1 kronor offer made to buy OMX in May.

The price the Dubai exchange would offer for OMX is expected to match the price it paid for shares, thereby beating Nasdaq's offer.

If successful it would mark a second set-back for Nasdaq, after it was thwarted in its $5.3bn bid to buy the London Stock Exchange.

The board of OMX recommended Nasdaq's earlier bid.

Meetings are expected to take place this week between the Dubai exchange and shareholders from OMX, as well as with the Swedish government, which holds a 6.6% stake in the exchange.

Aims for overseas expansion by the Dubai borse are not new. Last year it acquired a 3.5% stake in Paris-based Euronext.

And the latest development comes amid a wider trend of consolidation among stock exchanges, as they try to cut costs and become more efficient.

Last year, the New York Stock Exchange sealed the first trans-Atlantic deal when it bought pan-European exchange Euronext for $14.3bn.