UPDATE 3-Commods trader Noble: Investor may buy big stake

* Noble, seen as a mini-Glencore, flags major stake deal

* In detailed talks with one investor, may or may not happen

* Offers access to China beans, global coal, oil volatility

* Noble says optimistic about current trading conditions (Updates with credit analysts' quotes, CDS; adds byline)

By Kevin Lim and Saeed Azhar

SINGAPORE, Sept 16 (Reuters) - Commodities firm Noble Group (NOBG.SI) announced advanced talks with an unidentified investor for a major stake in the $5.5 billion company, potentially allowing access to a mix of hard assets and trading acumen.

While no likely buyers could be immediately identified, the deal may confirm a shift in the strategy of big emerging market governments and state companies to pursue resource firms that give them trading leverage in global markets as well as access to the raw materials they need to feed their economies.

As the only major global commodity trading house with a public listing, Noble may be even more attractive than bigger rivals like Glencore [GLEN.UL], to which it is often compared and has also been reportedly seeking to sell a small stake.

"The potential equity infusion will help improve the company's liquidity as well as its capitalization," said Neel Gopalakrishnan, credit analyst at Standard Chartered in Singapore, calling the news positive for Noble's bonds.

Noble said in a statement to the Singapore stock exchange it was in talks with investors who wanted to become its shareholders. "Noble is engaged in detailed negotiations with one of these investors," the firm said.

The talks could lead to the purchase of "a major shareholding" by the unnamed investor, it said. Noble also said it was optimistic about current trading conditions.

SUCCESSION PLAN

Founded by Richard Elman in 1987 with $100,000 in savings, Hong Kong-based Noble has expanded into a global empire that includes operations from sugar and ethanol in Brazil, soy crushing facilities in China and coal mines in Australia.

But Elman has also continued to build up its trading operations in parallel, enabling Noble to capitalise on market volatility as much as rising commodity prices.

Its latest focus is building a global oil trading team, for which it has hired 14 London-based traders since March. [ID:nLR299054]

For a related FACTBOX, click [ID:nSP532914]

That potent combination of supply and traders may have attracted the notice of sovereign wealth funds, which have made clear they want a piece of the commodity boom.

"Commodities are very much in interest these days," said Lee Wen Ching, an analyst at OCBC Securities in Singapore.

"Noble is very well diversified across various assets such as agriculture, metals and energy. It is a key beneficiary of the economic recovery."

This summer, Olam International (OLAM.SI), which trades in commodities such as cotton and wheat, sold a 13.76 percent stake to Singapore's Temasek Holdings [TEM.UL], while PetroChina (0857.HK) bought oil refiner Singapore Petroleum SPCS.SI.

The move was also seen as a step in succession planning for Elman, 69.

"It makes sense for the major shareholder to reduce its stake and consider an appropriate succession plan given his age," said Annisa Lee, a Nomura International credit analyst in Hong Kong.

Bank of America-Merrill Lynch said in a report on Tuesday that Noble's chief operating officer met over 30 investors in Europe earlier this month.

It said Noble's profits will likely grow robustly in the next 3-5 years, with new capacities in sugar, soybeans and potentially natural gas slated to come onstream in the next year.

"We believe Noble could raise capital via debt and equity to fund its natural gas venture," the bank said, maintaining a "buy" rating on the stock with a target price of S$2.40.

The firm's market capitalisation is about $5.5 billion, based on its last traded price of S$2.30 a share.

Noble's shares have been suspended from trading since Tuesday. Its shares have more than doubled this year, beating the benchmark Straits Times Index .FTSTI which is up by half.

In an indication of Noble's improving credit profile this year, spreads on its 5-year credit default swaps NOBG5YUSAC=MP have narrowed significantly and were around 188 basis points on Tuesday compared with more than 1,000 bps in the first quarter. (Additional reporting by Umesh Desai and Jun Ebias in Hong Kong; Editing by Neil Chatterjee and Muralikumar Anantharaman)