NEW YORK (Bloomberg) - Bermuda-based Assured Guaranty Ltd. will probably know within weeks whether Moody's Investors Service will strip the bond insurer of its Aaa rating, billionaire investor Wilbur Ross said.

Ross committed to invest as much as $1 billion in the Hamilton, Bermuda-based firm in February, taking a seat on its board. In July, Moody's said that it may downgrade Assured, one of two established bond insurers to maintain top ratings as mortgage losses in the industry crippled competitors.

"We will know within the next couple of weeks what their final conclusion will be," Ross said in an interview with Bloomberg Television.

Ross also said mergers among companies in the bond insurance industry could be possible "after the dust settles".

Meanwhile, Assured announced yesterday that it guaranteed $339 million of municipal bonds for the Louisville Arena Authority (LAA), which will finance the building of a new basketball arena.

The company said its share of the new issue US public finance bonds rose to 59.3 percent last month. Assured insured 58 new issue US public finance transactions for approximately $1.3 billion in par insured during last month, compared to 10 deals for $220 million in August 2007.

"We are pleased to announce the closing of the Louisville Arena transaction as well as our strong August market share, which we believe demonstrates investors' appreciation for the value that Assured provides to transactions," said Bill Hogan, senior managing director of Assured's Public Finance Group.

"The LAA benefits from the initial cost savings on these bonds, while investors benefit from the enhanced secondary market liquidity provided by our guaranty as well as the Company's extensive due diligence, structuring expertise and bondholder representation."