(Updates with comments, details)
HONG KONG/SHANGHAI, June 15 (Reuters) - Shares in Shenzhen Development Bank rallied on Monday after Ping An Insurance (Group) said it will increase its stake in the mid-sized lender to close to 30 percent, from the under 5 percent it holds.
But Ping An shares rose to a lesser degree as some analysts deemed the deal expensive and not greatly value accretive to the insurer's banking aspirations.
"The deal should have a positive impact on Ping An in the long term because of the synergy that it would create ... but for now, investors are more concerned about the capital funding required by this acquisition," said Jaseper Tsang, head of research at CSC Hong Kong, a unit of Capital Securities Group
By 0235 GMT Ping An was up 2.4 percent at 46.18 yuan in Shanghai, while shares in Shenzhen Development Bank, which opened at the upper end of its 10 percent daily limit, trimmed gains to 6.4 percent at 21.28 yuan.
Ping An's Hong Kong-listed shares, which recovered from a weak start, were up 0.9 percent at HK$59.60. Shares in Ping An and Shenzhen Development Bank had been suspended for a week to Monday.
Citigroup downgraded Ping An to a "hold" rating from "buy" saying the transaction was likely to cast a shadow over Ping An's Hong Kong-listed stock over the next 18-24 months.
"It does appear Ping An paid over the odds. However, the scarcity of the asset meant that this was never going to be cheap," said Credit Suisse analyst Christopher Esson.
China's Ping An Insurance will buy out Newbridge Capital's stake in Shenzhen-based lender for 11.45 billion yuan ($1.68 billion) in cash or via a share swap, while also paying up to 10.7 billion yuan for up to 585 million shares in Shenzhen Bank in a private share placement, leaving it with a stake of as much as 30 percent.
Shenzhen Bank which has been seeking new funding to bolster its capital and meet regulatory requirements is expected to benefit from the deal.
"The investment by Ping An, a new shareholder with strong financial strength, can bolster Shenzhen Bank's capital, enabling the lender to enter a phase of rapid growth," China International Capital Corp analyst Mao Junhua said in a report on Monday.
The bank's capital adequacy ratio stood at 8.53 percent at end-March, below the 10 percent requirement for listed mid-sized lenders.
"Shenzhen Bank will become an important part of Ping An's ambition to become a financial conglomerate. There will be opportunities for the two companies to share customer resources, and in the long-term, it would be possible for Ping An's unit Ping An Bank to merge with Shenzhen Bank."
(Reporting by Parvathy Ullatil, Nerilyn Tenorio & Samuel Shen; Editing by Chris Lewis)