UPDATE 4-B'desh's Grameenphone plans $300 mln IPO, placement

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By Tony Munroe and Serajul Islam Quadir

HONG KONG/DHAKA, July 24 (Reuters) - Bangladesh's top mobile phone carrier, Grameenphone, said on Thursday it plans to raise up to $300 million in a share sale and domestic listing that would be the impoverished South Asian country's largest IPO.

Grameenphone, 62 percent-owned by Norway's Telenor (TEL.OL: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), said it aimed to raise up to $150 million with a pre-IPO share placement and another $150 million through the initial public offering itself.

Bangladesh's fast-growing telecoms sector has been a magnet for investment by foreign operators, with Japan's NTT DoCoMo Ltd (9437.T: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) last month paying about $350 million for a 30 percent stake in No.3 cellphone carrier TM International (Bangladesh) Ltd, also known as AKtel.

With market share of 47 percent, Grameenphone is expected to draw plenty of investor interest.

Still, its operating profit fell 89 percent in the second quarter to 40 million crowns ($7.76 million), due to one-time items and a drop in average revenue per user to 19 crowns ($3.69) a month from 30 crowns a year earlier, according to Telenor's second-quarter results report.

Spending power, meanwhile, is under pressure as Bangladesh struggles with double-digit inflation. Per capita income rose 15 percent during the year through June to $599.

"It is a mega issue in Bangladesh and definitely there will be huge demand for it," Mostaque Ahmed Sadeque, managing director of brokerage Investment Promotion Services Ltd, told Reuters. "It is doing very well as the largest mobile operator of the country."