Unicom’s $12b ownership reforms mired in confusion

HONG KONG: Telecoms group China Unicom’s $11.7 billion ownership-reforms plan, billed as a model case for revitalising Chinese state firms with private capital, remained under a cloud on Friday, with confusion about fundraising details persisting.

The state-owned group had announced on Wednesday it was raising the funds via its Shanghai-listed unit from more than a dozen investors, including tech giants Alibaba Group, Tencent Holdings, and Baidu.

But since then, China Unicom has taken down the announcement of the fundraising from the Shanghai stock exchange, shares of its two listed units remain suspended, and one investor named by Unicom in the fundraising denied involvement in the deal.

“It’s very, very odd,” said Hao Hong, head of research at brokerage BOCOM International, referring to the deal announcement and its subsequent withdrawal.

“Investors who were trying to get into this stock after the ownership reforms will be disappointed,” he said. “At this stage it’s difficult to speculate about the reason for the withdrawal, but I think it’s just a matter of time before they sort it out.”

The China Unicom fundraising is part of Beijing’s push for stateowned enterprises to be revitalized with private capital. China Unicom is 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’s 2010 market debut, as per Thomson Reuters data.

But the deal has become mired in confusion. Rail equipment maker CRRC Corp, one of the 14 investors named by China Unicom, denied making an investment.

A China Unicom spokesman in Hong Kong then said a wholly-owned unit of CRRC was the investor in the telecoms group and not the listed company itself, which was corroborated later by a senior CRRC executive.

CRRC declined to comment when contacted by Reuters.

Shares in China Unicom’s Hong Kong and Shanghai listed units remained suspended from trading even on Friday, contrary to expectations they would resume trading after the fundraising announcement.

Moreover, the deal announcement was taken down from the Shanghai bourse website late on Wednesday, a few hours after its posting, although it has 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 said the announcement was taken down from the Shanghai exchange due to “technical issues”, but did not elaborate.

China United Network Communications, the Shanghai-listed unit, did not respond to Reuters requests for comment.

The company said it would issue documents on the share placement within three trading days. -