HONG KONG (Reuters) - China Unicom's two main units said their shares would remain suspended until further notice, one day after the group announced it was raising $11.7 billion from investors including Alibaba (NYSE:BABA) Group and Tencent Holdings.
No reason was given for the continued suspension, which runs counter to expectations that trade would resume soon after details of the fund raising were released.
Adding to market confusion, the deal announcement was taken down from the Shanghai bourse website although it remained on the Hong Kong bourse's website as well as the website of the Hong Kong unit.
Representatives at China Unicom Hong Kong Ltd and China United Network Communications, the Shanghai-listed unit, did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment.
The Shanghai bourse also did not immediately respond to a faxed request for comment.
The fund raising - which will see the money raised by the Shanghai unit - is part of Beijing's push for state-owned enterprises to be revitalized with private capital, with China Unicom among the first batch of state-owned enterprises slated for mixed-ownership reforms.
The deal represents the largest capital raising in the Asia-Pacific region since insurer AIA Group's 2010 market debut, according to Thomson Reuters data.
Brokerage Jefferies said in a note the diversified nature and representation of private investors was unprecedented for a Chinese state-owned enterprise, signifying the degree of support Unicom receives from the government.