Vodafone Qatar planning September IPO

Vodafone Group's mobile phone unit in Qatar plans to sell shares in its initial public offering in September.

A Reuters report said according to daily the Peninsula newspaper, Qatar's second biggest mobile phone operator would sell a 40% stake in the firm in an IPO and 15% to local institutional investors, leaving Vodafone and its local partner, Qatar Foundation, with 45% ownership.

HSBC Middle East and Qatar National Bank are lead advisers for the IPO, the Peninsula said.

Vodafone owns 51% of the new operator, which ended Qatar's Telecommunications monopoly.

In December, Vodafone beat rivals including AT&T to win the license, ending the last Arab mobile-phone monopoly.