US President George W. Bush said today the US authorities would probe security implications of a proposed deal which would see Borse Dubai take a stake in the New York-based Nasdaq stock exchange.
The president said in a White House news conference that the proposed tie-up would be examined under a new law introduced this year to assess national security risks posed by US assets being sold off to certain overseas investors.
Nasdaq and Dubai's stock exchange struck a deal today that shakes up ownership of some of the world's top share markets and takes the Nasdaq brand into the Middle East and Asia.
As part of the agreement, US-based Nasdaq and state-owned Borse Dubai ended their tussle to buy Nordic markets operator OMX.
Nasdaq gets to buy OMX, while Borse Dubai takes on Nasdaq's key stake in the London Stock Exchange and buys 20% of Nasdaq itself.
The moves, which highlight the increasing influence of Gulf Arab states in global takeover deals, brought a swift response from Dubai's regional financial rival Qatar.
Qatar said it had bought 20% stake of the London Stock Exchange through the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) and urged OMX shareholders to take no action on the Dubai/Nasdaq offer. Sources familiar with the matter later said the QIA was buying OMX shares.
In a further dimension of the agreement, Nasdaq will take a 33% stake in the Dubai International Financial Exchange (DIFX), to be renamed Nasdaq DIFX.
Borse Dubai will use this name in the Middle East, North Africa and South Asia. The pair agreed a separate joint venture in China.
