IMAX China $248 million IPO saw lukewarm reception from retail investors

HONG KONG (Reuters) - A $248 million Hong Kong IPO from IMAX China Holding Inc, majority-owned by the namesake giant screen movie theater equipment maker, saw particularly weak demand from retail investors, a filing showed on Wednesday. Demand for new listings in Asia Pacific has been hurt by a steep slide in Chinese stock markets earlier in the year as well as increased volatility in other global equity markets. While there have been some signs of improving confidence in the market, with China Huarong Asset Management Co Ltd and China Reinsurance (Group) starting pitches for their Hong Kong IPOs worth up to a combined $5 billion this week, market players said it was too early to call a recovery. "Sentiment has not recovered, it's not that strong yet because the market remains volatile recently," said Jasper Chan, corporate finance officer at Hong Kong brokerage Phillip Securities. In the IMAX China IPO, which priced near bottom of its marketed range at HK$31 per share last week, demand from retail investors accounted for only 70 percent of the shares on offer for that portion of the deal, the filing showed. By comparison, a similar-sized listing by Yunnan Water Investment Co Ltd in May saw demand worth more than 354 times the number of retail shares offered and an April listing by Shanghai Haohai Biological Technology Co Ltd was oversubscribed nearly 180 times. IMAX China said, however, that the institutional tranche of the deal was well oversubscribed. The IMAX Corp China unit debuts on the Hong Kong stock exchange on Thursday. The listing will be the first by a major global brand in Hong Kong since 2011, when companies such as Prada Spa, Samsonite International SA and MGM China Holdings went public in the city. ($1 = 7.7495 Hong Kong dollars) (Reporting by Elzio Barreto; Editing by Edwina Gibbs)