CORRECTED - CORRECTED-DEALTALK-Noble's public success may be Glencore's aspi

(Corrects Noble revenue comparison with Glencore in third paragraph)

* Noble seen as template for possible Glencore listing

* Could benefit from cheaper, easier credit

By Saeed Azhar and Nick Trevethan

SINGAPORE, June 19 (Reuters) - As Glencore contemplates a leap into the great unknown of public ownership, it can take comfort from at least one notable peer that has thrived in the listed spotlight -- Asian trading house Noble Group (NOBG.SI).

As the world's biggest commodity trader, Glencore International AG [GLEN.UL] has no equal, with over $150 billion in revenue split between its powerful trading desks and its ownership of mines, oilfields and smelters across the globe.

In some respects, Hong Kong-based Noble Group is its most similar rival -- albeit with revenues less than one-quarter those of Glencore's -- with a profile that mixes Brazilian iron ore mines and Chinese soy crushing operations with trading savvy.

Founded by Richard Elman in 1987 with $100,000 in savings, the Noble Group has grown into a $4 billion enterprise and has reaped dividends in the form of easier credit and access to cheaper forms of capital since listing in Singapore a decade ago.

Even with most markets still nursing the wounds of last year's financial crisis, Noble this month obtained an $800 million standby borrowing facility and in May raised $126 million through a share sale. Its stock is up almost four times since October on hopes of a recovery in commodity prices.

And its ability to quickly raise cash has helped the firm to do major cross-border acquisitions, the latest being the $429 million takeover of Australian miner Gloucester Coal (GCL.AX).

"There is liquidity in capital markets and appetite for listed companies such as Noble and Olam. You can see how they have been able to raise millions of dollars in the past few months from public markets," said an investment banker.

Noble Group's success suggests that exposing a company to investor scrutiny need not necessarily cost it its trading edge.

The Financial Times reported on Friday that Glencore, the Swiss-based commodities trader founded by Marc Rich to become one of the world's biggest private companies, is considering a stock market listing.

Such a move, still considered remote by many industry sources and bankers, would effectively require Glencore to relinquish the veil of privacy and secrecy that has aided it for 35 years in order to access cheaper capital, a need underscored by a spike it in its credit default swaps last year.

"Being a public listed provides an extra avenue to raise money, since there is only so much debt they could put on their balance sheet," said Ho Choon Seng, an analyst at Malaysian bank CIMB in Singapore.

Even as the credit crisis began to cut deep, Noble managed to raise $500 million in five-year bonds with its BB+ rating in May last year, at a time when investors shunned the junk bond market.