* Koor to invest up to $886 million in Carrefour
* To support Carrefour shareholder Blue Capital
* To rebuild stake in Credit Suisse
(Adds quotes from Dankner interview, analyst)
By Tova Cohen
TEL AVIV, June 22 (Reuters) - Israeli holding company Koor Industries Ltd is planning to invest up to 3.5 billion shekels ($886 million) in France's Carrefour SA and to rebuild its stake in Credit Suisse Group AG.
Koor, a subsidiary of IDB Holding, said it had cash to invest and was looking for cheaply-valued, quality assets.
"At IDB we have significant liquidity and are looking for high-quality investments that still trade at comfortable prices," IDB Chairman and Chief Executive Nochi Dankner told Reuters.
The group already holds 1.76 million shares, or 0.25 percent, in Carrefour, the world's second-biggest retailer. It paid 284 million shekels for the shares.
Koor last year began to buy and sell shares in Credit Suisse, at one point reaching a stake of 3.4 percent, which made it the third-largest shareholder in the Swiss bank. It has since reduced its stake to 0.7 percent, reaping gains of over 2 billion shekels.
"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 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."
DEFENSIVE SECTOR
Dankner said IDB has been studying Carrefour for close to a year and noted the food retail sector is defensive, without the volatility of other sectors.
"I like Carrefour's expansion to emerging markets, to South America, China and India," he said.
Dankner, who is IDB's major shareholder, said IDB has an understanding of this sector through its subsidiary Super-Sol Ltd, Israel's biggest supermarket chain.
Blue Capital, a holding company owned by Bernard Arnault, one of France's richest men, and property company Colony Capital, holds 17.08 percent of the voting rights of Carrefour.
"I am sure that under the leadership of Bernard Arnault and his team and the Colony Capital group, Carrefour will continue to expand its business globally and to improve its profitability," Dankner said.
A market source, who asked not to be identified, said Koor had approved an investment of 3.5 billion shekels in Carrefour and could even surpass that.
Limor Gruber, head of research at brokerage Psagot, said it seemed a reasonable investment as Carrefour is in the process of a global expansion. "The price from what we see is okay," she said.
Shares in the French retailer, up 2.6 percent at 30.21 euros at 1147 GMT, have dropped from a 2009 high of 33.05 euros set earlier this month.
Shares in Koor were up 0.1 percent, having spiked 1.8 percent at the market opening on the news.
Koor said it had reached an agreement in principle for HSBC to extend it credit of 300 million euros for the purchase of shares. As it makes use of the credit, Koor will put up similar amounts from its own resources.
"The use of the credit framework and the investment in Carrefour shares is dependent on several conditions, including the company's estimate as to market developments," it said. (Additional reporting by Steven Scheer; Editing by David Holmes) ($1 = 3.95 shekels)