August 21, 2007	Tuesday	Sha’aban 7, 1428

STOCKHOLM, Aug 20: Borse Dubai would look to expand exchange firm OMX organically and through acquisitions if its $4 billion bid succeeds, its head told Reuters on Monday, adding the deal made industrial sense.

Borse Dubai’s cash offer for the Nordic and Baltic bourse owner on Friday trumped an agreed $3.7 billion cash-and-share bid from US exchange Nasdaq.

However, many expect Nasdaq to hit back and OMX shares were up 2.6 per cent at 238 crowns by 1107 GMT, above Dubai’s 230 crown offer price, as the market anticipated a bidding war.Borse Dubai’s chief executive Per Larsson said a deal with

Dubai made more sense than a deal with Nasdaq as it would give OMX a better platform for international expansion.

We are looking at organic growth in fast-growing emerging markets ... and we are also going to look at acquisition because we have the goal of being one of the world’s biggest bourse groups, Larsson said in a telephone interview.

We will support their growth in Europe with the financial strength we have.

He said that while there were some synergies in an OMX deal with Nasdaq, there were also conflicts in terms of brand, technology, market models and regulation.—Reuters