Investors Want More AT&T; Wireless Shares

Buyers want twice as many shares as are available in the mammoth initial public offering by AT&T; Corp.’s wireless unit, investors said Tuesday.

The IPO, expected to be the biggest ever in the U.S., is scheduled to proceed today even as investors shun many initial stock sales. AT&T; plans to sell 360 million “tracking” shares (AWE) in its wireless unit at $26 to $32 each, raising as much as $11.5 billion.

Goldman Sachs, Merrill Lynch and Salomon Smith Barney are handling the sale of the 16% stake, which could give AT&T;’s wireless unit a market value of $74 billion if the shares are sold at the high end of the target range.

Tracking stocks are generally tied to the financial performance of a company’s unit, but the shares do not give holders an ownership stake in the business.