Global Investment House Seeks Buyout in London, Malaysia Permit

By Zainab Fattah and Arif Sharif

Aug. 31 (Bloomberg) -- Global Investment House KSCC, Kuwait's biggest investment bank, is seeking to buy wealth management and brokerage companies in London and plans to apply for an investment banking license in Malaysia.

The acquisitions in London may range in size from $200 million to $250 million and help it broaden its services, Maha Khalid Al-Ghunaim, Global's chairwoman and managing director, said in a phone interview from Kuwait today.

London and Malaysia ``are very important markets for us to consider today'' and the company is already ``taking the first steps to apply'' for an investment banking and asset management license in Malaysia, she added.

Global announced last week it may buy 20 percent of National Bank of Umm Al Qaiwain PSC to expand into the United Arab Emirates by purchasing 2.36 billion dirhams ($643 million) of convertible bonds. Global raised $1.15 billion by selling global depositary receipts in May.

Global has just started a hedge fund to invest in India and is in the process of closing the second part of a Gulf real-estate fund, Al-Ghunaim said. It will open a fifth part of a private equity fund by the end of the year.

To contact the reporter on this story: Zainab Fattah in Dubai on zfattah@bloomberg.net. Arif Sharif in Dubai at asharif2@bloomberg.net