Chief Executive Salah AlــFulaij did not disclose the name of the firm in an interview with a local daily, adding that NBK Capital was also in talks with other firms about sukuk or conventional bond sales. He did not give a timeframe.

NBK Capital said in March it expected to arrange sukuk worth up to 700 million U.S. dollars in 2008.

"We''re still in talks with many companies from all sectors, particularly real estate and investment, local and Gulf ones," he said.

"There is still a demand for such financial instruments, and there is enough liquidity in the market," he said.

NBK Capital officials were not immediately available for comment.

AlـFulaiji said NBK Capital would announce "very soon" more deals after one of its private equity funds bought a 40 percent stake in Saudi car rental firm AlـTalaa International Transportation Co (Hanco) earlier this year.

Among deals in the works was the purchase with partners of a stake in a local firm and another deal involving a financial firm in Saudi Arabia, he added.

NBK Capital wants to open an office in Egypt, where its parent company bought AlـWatany Bank of Egypt last year, and also move to Qatar by the end of next year at the latest.

NBK Capital currently has an office in Turkey. ـReuters