Israel's Koor raises Credit Suisse stake to 1.28 pct

TEL AVIV, July 5 (Reuters) - Israeli holding company Koor Industries (KOR.TA) said it raised its stake in Credit Suisse (CSGN.VX) to 1.28 percent from 0.7 percent, one month after it had lowered its stake by a similar amount.

Koor, a subsidiary of IDB Holding Corp (IDBH.TA), said in a statement on Sunday it recently purchased 6.9 million shares in the Swiss bank.

It now holds 15.22 million shares for which it paid a total of 2.12 billion shekels ($546 million). The stake is valued at 2.59 billion shekels at the current market price, it said.

The company had held as much as 3.4 percent of Credit Suisse earlier this year, making it the third-largest shareholder in the bank, before it began reducing its stake.

Last month, IDB Chairman and Chief Executive Nochi Dankner told Reuters Koor planned to rebuild its stake in Credit Suisse.

"Credit Suisse is one of the winners of the financial crisis and I am sure that the bank will strengthen its position due its solid and robust business model," Dankner had said.

"We intend to rebuild IDB's stake in Credit Suisse. This investment was and remains an excellent investment for IDB and I like it very much."

Koor last month said it planned to invest up to 3.5 billion shekels in France's Carrefour SA (CARR.PA). It already holds a 0.25 percent stake in the world's second-biggest retailer, having paid 284 million shekels for the shares.

Koor has booked gains of 2.18 billion shekels from the share sales in Credit Suisse.

The company said it would continue to invest in Credit Suisse by taking advantage of opportunities to buy and sell and it intends to remain a significant shareholder in the bank.

Koor's board had approved an investment of up to 5 billion shekels in Credit Suisse.

($1 = 3.88 shekels)

(Reporting by Tova Cohen; Editing by Valerie Lee)