In a fax message from GrameenPhone, Telenor President and CEO Jon Fredrik Baksaas said Telenor, which holds 62 percent of the GrameenPhone shares, is open to see the Initial Public Offering (IPO) of GrameenPhone.

He also reaffirmed Telenor's strategy of maintaining majority ownership in GrameenPhone for further participation in the advancement of mobile communication in Bangladesh.

"Public listing will bring more Bangladeshi ownership into GrameenPhone," he said, adding, "We think it is important that the people of Bangladesh and all customers of GrameenPhone can become owners of this successful company."

Fredrik said he met Prof Muhammad Yunus, who represents Grameen Telecom, during his Norway visit and discussed about this issue and others.

Norwegian daily Dagbladet on March 29 reported that Telenor has been offered 2.6 billion Norwegian krone (NKr) by Bangladesh's Grameen Telecom to give up control of the pair's joint venture, GrameenPhone.

Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus of Grameen Telecom that holds 38 percent share of the GrameenPhone, was quoted by the newspaper as saying, "We don't demand that Telenor sell down its stake to under 35 percent; we will be content if we have 51 percent of the shares."

For this to happen, Telenor will have to cut its stake from the existing 62 percent stake to 49 percent.

At the current market price, this 13 percent stake will be worth 2.6 billion NKr, according to the report.

"We don't ask for charity or donations," Yunus was quoted as saying "We want to pay Telenor the full market price for the shares."

Telenor's controlling stake in GrameenPhone has long been a contentious issue with Yunus having regularly said he wants GrameenPhone to be owned by the poor women of Bangladesh.

GrameenPhone was formed in 1996 by Telenor along with Grameen Telecom, a division of Grameen Bank.