Vodafone Qatar, the UK telco group’s JV with the Qatar Foundation said it is expects to list its shares on the Doha Securities Market by July end.

The announcement comes on the heels of the stunning sum the player raised after expenses in its initial public offering from (IPO) from April 12-26.

In the biggest IPO of the year and the second biggest since the Industries Qatar IPO in 2003, the unit raised $1billion (£670m) from investors in its initial offering. The offering was kept open only to Qatari individuals and institutional investors.

According to the company, the unit received many offers from Qatari institutions for a sum above the maximum institution subscription caps but couldn’t accept because of the structure outlined in the IPO prospectus.

This has been observed as an indication of a strong early demand once the company gets listed on the Doha bourse.

Qatar, which has 77 percent ownership in the company, sold a 40 percent stake to 82,000 Qatari nationals who bought 65 percent of the offered shares. The remainder was sold to 273 institutional investors.

Gulf Arab region received only two in the first three months of the year, in comparison to 13 in the same period in 2008 (according to Ernst & Young).

Vodafone Qatar acquired the second public mobile telecommunications networks and services license in Qatar in June, 2008. The company plunged into its mobile network on March 1 and its first 1,000 customers are helping to test and build its mobile network.