By Andrew Green, Staff Reporter SHARES OF the Jamaica Lottery Company (JLC) should be listed on the Jamaica Stock Exchange (JSE) by July, says Jamaica Lottery Company chairman, Howard Mitchell. The company has completed most of the work required for listing, Mr. Mitchell said. He also quashed a rumour that a major competitor was in the process of taking controlling interest in the JLC. "Anytime within the next three months I would like us to be listed," Mr. Mitchell said. "That is the aim, but we have been stymied before." Audited financial statements for last year should be available shortly, he said. Pending approval by the board of directors, the JLC would then be able to apply for listing by the JSE. An initial public offer to agents and employees was completed last year, resulting in an increase of the number of shareholders to 128, Mr. Mitchell said. Rules of the JSE require a minimum of 100 shareholders holding at least 20 per cent of the issued shares in a company to be put up for listing. "Up to 80 per cent of the preparation has been completed," he said. But Mr. Mitchell's statement comes nearly seven years after the first date set by the JLC to list its shares on the exchange. The agency had announced from 1996 that it would have been listed on the JSE by June of that year. Adverse market conditions and a number of other factors had intervened to stall the listing. "The government made it a requirement that we list on the JSE," he said. Unlike other companies issued with licenses to operate gaming operations, the JLC is obligated to list its shares on the JSE. "If left on our own we would not list at this time," Mr. Mitchell said. "As we have to do this, however, at least our original shareholders will get a chance to cash out." Additionally, development plans for the JLC are probably better carried out with it operating as a public company rather than as a private company, he said. Asked whether there were any discussions for GTech Foreign Holdings Corporation to take control of the JLC, Mr. Mitchell said, "we have no negotiations with GTech." Business sources had told the Financial Gleaner that such a move was being discussed. GTech is the key technology firm supporting Supreme Ventures, which displaced the JLC as the leading firm in the lottery market. GTech executives were unavailable for comment yesterday.