China Unicom's two main units said on Thursday their shares would remain suspended until further notice, amid uncertainty over details of a $11.7 billion fundraising that is expected to be a model case for revamping state firms with private capital. The development comes one day after the state-owned group announced it was raising the funds from about a dozen investors, including tech giants Alibaba Group, Tencent Holdings, Baidu, and JD.com.

The continued suspension runs counter to expectations that trading would resume soon after details of the fundraising were released. China Unicom's Hong Kong shares were suspended on Wednesday, while trading in its Shanghai-listed shares has been halted since early April.

One of the investors named by China Unicom denied on Thursday that it is participating in the deal. And, 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. An official at China Unicom Hong Kong Ltd said the announcement was taken down from the Shanghai exchange due to "technical issues", but he did not elaborate. The company said trading in its shares will remain suspended pending an announcement.

Copyright Reuters, 2017