Saxo Bank to buy French forex broker Cambiste

PARIS May 27 (Reuters) - Saxo Bank has agreed to buy French online foreign exchange broker Cambiste, the companies said on Tuesday, as part of Saxo's moves to tap into the growing French market for versatile trading products.

Financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed. Cambiste was set up in April 2006 by former Calyon trader Pierre-Antoine Dusoulier and the company employs 17 staff.

In 2007, Cambiste handled more than $25 billion worth of trades on behalf of its clients and Saxo Bank said Cambiste had a strong position on trades of products known as contracts for differences (CFD).

"The CFD market effectively only started in France last November. We think there will be dramatic growth in this market," Saxo Bank director Albert Maasland said.

A contract for difference product allows an investor to benefit from the change in value of an instrument without needing to own the underlying security.

Saxo Bank's 2007 pre-tax profits rose 78 percent to 49 million euros.

Saxo Bank is headquartered in Copenhagen and has offices in London, Geneva, Zurich, Singapore and Marbella.

Portuguese bank Banco Espirito Santo (BES.LS) owns a 5 percent stake in Saxo Bank.

(Reporting by Sudip Kar-Gupta; editing by Sue Thomas)