The investment arm of the group that operates Dubai's tax-free business hub is seeking to sell financial software company SmartStream Technologies, three people familiar with the matter said.

DIFC Investments, an arm of Dubai's International Financial Centre (DIFC), has hired UBS to help sell SmartStream, the people added.

SmartStream helps investment banks and fund managers with the back and middle-office processing of stock, bond and derivative trades. It says its clients include three-quarters of the world's top 100 banks.

The Dubai investment firm aims to sell more than $1 billion of 'non-core' investments by the end of next year, Standard & Poor's said in August.

DIFC and SmartStream officials were not immediately available for comment late on Thursday. UBS declined to comment.

DIFC Investments bought SmartStream in November 2007 from private equity firm TA Associates, months after poor market conditions forced TA to scrap plans to list the company.

That deal valued SmartStream at about 200 million pounds, or $410 million at prevailing exchange rates, Thomson Reuters data shows.-Reuters