NYMEX buys 15 pct stake in Norway's IMAREX

Traders work on the floor of the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) March 28, 2007. U.S. NYMEX Holdings Inc has entered into an agreement to buy a 15.1 percent stake in Norwegian sea freight derivatives exchange Imarex.

OSLO (Reuters) - U.S. NYMEX Holdings Inc NMX.N has entered into an agreement to buy a 15.1 percent stake in Norwegian sea freight derivatives exchange Imarex (IMAREX.OL).

"Following settlement of this transaction, NYMEX Holdings Inc. will hold 1,714,544 shares in the Company, representing 15.10 percent of the company's total share capital," NYMEX said in a statement to the Oslo bourse on Monday.

IMAREX said it welcomed NYMEX as a shareholder. NYMEX, the parent company of the New York Mercantile Exchange, bought the stake from Norway-listed shipping group Frontline (FRO.OL).

"We see the transaction as recognition of our business model and the work we have done," IMAREX chief Herman Michelet told Reuters, adding that he had no information about NYMEX's future plans towards IMAREX.

"I see no negative impact. They have much competence so they are welcome," Michelet said.

Frontline, a founding member of IMAREX, said it sold its entire stake to NYMEX for about $51 million, "enhancing dividend capacity".

(Reporting by Wojciech Moskwa and Camilla Knudsen; Editing by Quentin Bryar)