MB Holding, an Omani mining and energy group plans to take advantage of depressed valuations to buy a stake in listed firms on the Toronto and London exchanges.

Mr Mohamed Al Barwani chairman of MB Holding said that the Omani firm whose operations range from oil field services and mining to tourism was looking at companies with a market value of up to USD 500 million.

Mr Barwani said that "A lot assets are coming on the market at lower prices our primary interest is oil and gas and mining. We have a lot of open bank lines at the moment."

MB's Mawarid Mining took 9.98% stake worth about USD 50.1 million, in Canada's Nautilus Minerals in August. Nautilus is using funds raised to develop a copper project off the coast of Papua New Guinea.

Mr Barwani said that the privately owned conglomerate's main acquisition focus lay in the copper and gold sectors but it would consider attractive oil and gas production or exploration assets, particularly in Europe to build on its operations on the continent.

He said that we're not looking at hostile takeovers. We're not going to take 100%. We're currently looking very closely into Toronto into London.

(Sourced from Reuters)