HONG KONG - China's biggest hypermarket operator, Sun Art Retail Group Ltd, raised $1.1 billion in a Hong Kong initial public offering at the top of expectations, bucking a recent downturn in Asian IPOs as investors jostled for a piece of China's booming consumer market.

The company sold 1.14 billion new shares in a primary offering at HK$7.20 each, the top of an indicative range of HK$5.65 to HK$7.20 per share, IFR reported, raising HK$8.21 billion ($1.1 billion) to fund expansion and pay down debt.

Red-hot growth in the world's second largest economy has created a new class of consumers that have flocked to supermarkets, shopping malls and auto dealerships to spend their earnings. China saw the number of hypermarkets rise exponentially to 3,222 by the end of 2010 from just 96 in 2000 and that number is expected to jump further to 5,211 by 2015, according to Euromonitor forecasts.

"We expect that growth in the hypermarket segment...and the broader grocery retail industry in general will continue to be based on economic growth in China as well as continuing urbanisation of the population with accompanying rises in disposable income," Sun Art said in the IPO prospectus.

Sun Art is the top hypermarket operator by sales in China with a 12 percent market share, it said in the prospectus, citing estimates from Euromonitor. Wal-Mart Stores Inc, the world's largest retailer, ranked second with an 11.2 percent share, followed by China Resources Enterprise Ltd with a 9.8 percent share and Carrefour with 8.1 percent.

UBS AG , Citigroup Inc and HSBC Holdings Plc acted as joint global coordinators on the deal, with BNP Paribas SA , China International Capital Corp, Goldman Sachs Group Inc and Morgan Stanley also helping to underwrite the offering as joint bookrunners.