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China Mobile, the world's largest cellular phone operator, is planning a multibillion-dollar share sale in Shanghai as early as next month to attract domestic investors, sources familiar with the situation said last Monday.

Hong Kong's Chinese-language newspaper Apple Daily, citing an unnamed Chinese mainland source, said the deal could raise as much as 80 billion yuan.

It will likely be the biggest initial public offer (IPO) of equity ever in China's domestic markets, exceeding Industrial & Commercial Bank of China's 46.6 billion yuan IPO in Shanghai last year, the banking sources said.

China Mobile hired KPMG to audit its proposed Shanghai listing late last year. It has also hired Goldman Sachs Gaohua Securities to advise on its Shanghai listing, the sources said.

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