NYSE Euronext Partners with Qatar

In a quest to continue its global expansion, NYSE Euronext(NYX Quote) on Tuesday said it will acquire a 25% stake in Qatar's Doha Stock Market for $250 million.

The deal, expected to close in the fourth quarter, will provide the Big Board with a business hub in the Middle East. NYSE will get three of the 11 seats on the Doha board, while Qatar retains a 75% stake in the market. The trading currency will be the Qatari Riyal, although it is expected that there will be capabilities to list multicurrency instruments.

A relative newcomer, the Doha Securities Market began operations in May 1997 and is up 26% year to date. Its market capitalization has jumped from $5.2 billion in 2000 to $136 billion. A minority share of the Doha exchange will be sold in a domestic initial public offering within the next three years.

"It is a great privilege to align NYSE Euronext with Qatar and Doha's financial marketplace, whose role is increasingly important in the Gulf region and globally," NYSE Euronext CEO Duncan Niederauer said in a statement.

The New York Stock Exchange in 2006 embarked on a journey to expand beyond New York's borders. Last year, it went on a tear merging with Euronext and has made arrangements with the stock exchanges in the Philippines and Malaysia, the Tokyo Stock Exchange, the Abu Dhabi Securities Market and it has opened an office in Beijing.

For Qatar's part, the deal is part of its effort to be the second largest economy in the region by 2015. Qatar has also targeted that by 2020 it will no longer be dependent on its income from oil and gas. The partnership with NYSE Euronext is another step for the country to become a diversified economy.