Sun Art Retail Group Ltd, the Chinese hypermarket operator backed by France's Groupe Auchan SA, plans to raise as much as HK$8.2 billion ($1.1 billion) in a Hong Kong initial public offering.

The Shanghai-based company, which counts Wal-Mart Stores Inc (WMT) among its competitors, plans to sell 1.14 billion new shares for HK$5.65 to HK$7.20 each, according to a sales document obtained yesterday by Bloomberg News. About half the stock will go to nine so-called cornerstone investors, including Government of Singapore Investment Corp and Tiger Global Management LLC, which agreed to invest $40 million each.

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Sun Art is pressing ahead with its offering even after a slump in the benchmark Hang Seng Index prompted at least four companies to cancel Hong Kong IPOs this month, data compiled by Bloomberg show. Casual-wear retailer China Outfitters Holdings Ltd withdrew a proposed offering yesterday, citing market conditions. The Hang Seng Index is down 7 percent so far in June, headed for its worst monthly performance since January 2010.

"China's consumer market is a red-hot topic among overseas investors," said Chang Dongliang, an analyst with Everbright Securities Co in Shanghai. "Sun Art is especially attractive for its capability to control cost and to maintain profitably with new stores."

Debt repayment

At the high end of its offering price range, Sun Art's shares would be valued at 31.5 times estimated 2011 earnings, according to one of the banks arranging the sale. Hong Kong- listed Wumart Stores Inc and Lianhua Supermarket Holdings Co, which run hypermarkets, supermarkets and convenience stores in China, trade at 30 times and 20 times projected full-year profit respectively, according to Bloomberg data.

Sun Art is the largest hypermarket operator in China, with a 12 percent share of sales last year, according to a research note by Morgan Stanley (MS), which is one of the banks arranging the IPO. That puts it ahead of Wal-Mart, state-backed China Resources Enterprise Ltd and Carrefour SA, Morgan Stanley estimated.

The retailer plans to use about half of the IPO proceeds to open new outlets in China and 30 percent to repay bank loans, according to a sales document. The company began meeting institutional investors today and plans to set a final price on July 7 and start trading on July 15, the document showed.