Kuwait Investment Authority (KIA), which manages the oil producer's surplus wealth, bought almost $800 million of shares in the initial public offering of credit card firm Visa, a report said.

Al-Qabas newspaper said the KIA bought more than 18 million shares at $44 each, given it a stake of at least 4 percent. The newspaper did not cite anyone. Shares of Visa last traded at $64.48 on Friday.

Visa, the world's largest credit card company, said in March it raised $17.9 billion in the biggest-ever US IPO.

The KIA, which manages about $225 billion of assets, is interested in investing in financial services and real estate companies in the United States and Europe to benefit from lower asset prices, KIA Managing Director Bader al-Saad told Reuters in February.

Qabas said in March the KIA was considering investing in the Visa IPO. KIA officials could not be immediately reached for comment.

The KIA in January agreed to invest $5 billion in Merrill Lynch & Co and Citigroup Inc to help them raise capital after write-downs linked to the US subprime mortgage crisis.

In 2006, it invested about $720 million in Industrial & Commercial Bank of China ahead of its IPO, making it the bank's biggest investor. - Reuters