LISTED units of China’s two largest trainmakers said that their shares needed to remain suspended because the complexity of plans that may include an asset restructuring is “unprecedented.”

    The “significant event” remains under study, with regulators involved, Hong Kong and Shanghai-listed China CNR Corp. and CSR Corp. said statements Saturday. The companies’ shares have been suspended since Oct. 27 and should resume trading no later than one month after Dec. 1, CNR said.

    China’s State Council ordered the merger of CSR and CNR into one company, government officials involved in the transaction said last month. A consolidation will facilitate efforts to win contracts abroad, said the officials, who asked not to be identified.

    The companies “will speed up the relevant work” and decide whether to proceed “as soon as practicable,” CNR said.

    China CNR and CSR have a combined market value of US$26 billion in Hong Kong trading and employed 172,647 workers at the end of last year.

    CSR said in a separate Hong Kong stock exchange filing Saturday that it’s agreed to swap a 36.8 percent stake in Guiyang Times Wharton Technology Co. for assets belonging to South Huiton Co. Both CSR and Huiton have CSR Group as a major shareholder.

    A merged CNR-CSR would have combined annual revenue of about 200 billion yuan (US$32.71 billion) based on 2013 company data, compared with Siemens’ 75.9 billion euros (US$96.5 billion) and Bombadier’s US$18.2 billion.

    Xinhua, quoting Chinese Academy of Engineering railway expert Wang Mengshu, said in October that a merger was aimed at reducing unhealthy competition between the two and to promote China’s high-speed rail products overseas. (SD-Agencies)