US billionaire George Soros is said to have acquired a 4-per cent stake in Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) for about $35 million, valuing the oldest bourse in Asia at around $875 million.

The Economic Times today reported, citing two sources involved in the transaction that the stake was acquired through Soros' Quantum hedge fund from Dubai Financial, owned by the emirate's ruler, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum.

Soros is reported to have paid around Rs375-380 a share.

Soros, the world's 29th richest person, according to Forbes with a net worth of approximately $7.2 billion, had been in late-stage negotiations to buy Dubai Financial's 4-per cent stake in the BSE since last month. (See: George Soros eyes 4-% stake in BSE)

Dubai Financial had been looking to sell its stake in the BSE for quite some time and Indian laws allow individual foreign entities to own not more than 5 per cent in local stock exchanges.

Soros, who had once boasted that removing the then US President George Bush was "central focus of my life" and donated more than $23,000,000 to over 500 groups to defeat Bush's re-election in 2004, was fined $2.3 million in 1988 under French securities laws for insider trading in French Bank Société Générale.

In 1997, he earned the dubious nickname "the man who broke the Bank of England," for selling short more than $10 billion worth of pounds, which forced the Bank of England to withdraw the currency from the European Exchange Rate Mechanism, leading to the devaluation of the pound.

Soros had booked a profit of $1.1 billion, through this brazen action.

The 135-year-old BSE, which has the world's largest number of companies - 4900 companies - listed on it.

The market capitalisation of the companies listed on the BSE was $1.28 trillion as of February 2010, making it then the largest stock exchange in South Asia and the 12th largest in the world.

Recently, George Kaiser, one of the top 50 richest people in the world and among the top 50 American philanthropists, bought 3.9 per cent in BSE through his private equity firm Oklahoma-based Argonaut Ventures, while Canadian fund manager Urbana Corp hiked its stake to 2.6 per cent.

Other major global shareholders in BSE are Deutsche Boerse and Singapore Stock Exchange, both of which hold 5 per cent each, while Atticus Mauritius, Acacia Banyan and Caldwell Asset Management also hold small stakes.

Foreign investors, SBI, LIC and other public shareholders collectively own 55 per cent in BSE, while the remaining 45 per cent is held by stock brokers.