The New Nation - Internet Edition

Staff Reporter

GrameenPhone, the largest mobile phone operator of the country, plans to list on the Dhaka Stock Exchange by floating its initial public offering (IPO) by June.

The company, 62 per cent owned by Norwegian telecom company Telenor, has more than 16 million of the country's 32 million cellular subscribers.

GrameenPhone has named Citibank as its adviser for the IPO, Bangladesh Telecommunications Regulatory Commission (BTRC) said in a statement. An announcement would be made later on the number of shares that would be sold, the BTRC said.

Grameen Telecom, owned by micro-finance giant Grameen Bank, set up by 2006 Nobel peace prize winner Muhammad Yunus, holds the remaining 38 per cent of GrameenPhone.

"GrameenPhone is the largest company in the country (by sales) and a lot of people are waiting to have slice of the pie," said Yawar Sayeed, chief executive officer of Bangladesh's AIMS brokerage.

Sayeed said he expected the IPO to be the largest in the nation's history as the company is valued at more than five billion dollars.

The biggest IPO in Bangladesh so far was by the country's private Shahjalal Islami Bank, which raised 13.4 million dollars in early 2007.

Representatives of Telenor and Grameen Telecom met officials of the BTRC and said they would list the company by June, the regulator said.

Announcement of the flotation comes after Dhaka's stock market benchmark index soared a record 91 percent in 2007 while market capitalisation jumped more than 139 per cent.

The telecommunications sector has emerged as a key driver of the economy of the country.

The booming mobile phone industry has created nearly 240,000 jobs, a study last year said.