UPDATE 1-Evergrande shares up 14.3 pct in HK debut

* Evergrande shares debut at HK$4 vs IPO price of HK$3.50

* IPO raised $729 million for Evergrande

* Evergrande has largest land reserves of mainland developers (Adds details and background)

HONG KONG, Nov 5 - Shares of Chinese property company Evergrande Real Estate Group Limited were 14.3 percent higher in pre-trading, ahead of their $729 million Hong Kong market debut on Thursday.

The Guangzhou-based property developer's opening share price was HK$4, compared with a Hong Kong IPO price of HK$3.50 each, which had been at the mid-point of the indicative range.

Several recent mainland property IPOs have met with cool receptions as the broader market comes off highs and investors weigh a flood of similar offerings.

Shenzhen-based Excellence Real Estate Group Ltd last week shelved plans for an IPO in Hong Kong of up to $1 billion, blaming market conditions, while Mingfa Group also scaled down its fundraising plans.

However, Evergrande attracted strong demand because of its low valuations. It drew orders for about 10 times the number of shares earmarked for institutional investors, while the Hong Kong retail tranche generated orders for about 46 times the shares initially on offer.

Based on Evergrande's offering price, which represents a price-to-earning multiple of 5.8 times estimated 2010 earnings by its IPO underwriters.

Evergrande raised $729 million, well below the $2.1 billion offer it attempted last year. Earlier, reports said the company hoped the IPO would fetch more than $1 billion.

BofA-Merrill Lynch and Goldman Sachs are joint sponsors of the deal, and together with Credit Suisse and BOC International are joint global coordinators and joint bookrunners.

Evergrande has the largest land reserves among mainland property developers, with a total gross floor area (GFA) of about 51.2 million square meters, and with an average cost of about 445 yuan ($65.19) per square meter.

At the end of September, Evergrande had completed development of a total GFA of about 4.1 million square meters. Properties under development and held for future development had a total GFA of 51.2 million square meters. (US$1=HK$7.75)