Soros set to buy 4 percent stake in Bombay bourse - report

U.S. billionaire investor George Soros waits to deliver a speech at the Humboldt university in Berlin, June 23, 2010.

LONDON (Reuters) - Billionaire financier George Soros is in late stage talks to buy a 4 percent stake in the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) as foreign interest in India's financial markets grows, the Financial Times reported on Wednesday.

Citing a person involved in the negotiations, the newspaper said Soros Fund Management plans to buy Dubai Holding's stake for about $40 million (25.7 million pounds), valuing the bourse at $1 billion.

Soros' entry into the BSE comes amid signs of a rift between the Bombay stock market and the Singapore Stock Exchange, which is one of its shareholders and has recently given up its board seat, people close to the situation told the FT.

Dubai Holding, the investment conglomerate owned by the emirate's ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, had been looking to exit the BSE, the FT said.

Soros Fund Management and Dubai Holding could not immediately be reached for comment.

(Reporting by Karolina Tagaris; editing by Leslie Gevirtz)