UPDATE 1-Sunshine Oilsands sets price range on HK IPO - terms

* IPO price set at HK$4.86-HK$5.08/share - terms

* Sunshine Oilsands set to price IPO on Feb. 24

By Clare Jim and Elzio Barreto

TAIPEI/HONG KONG, Feb 14 (Reuters) - Canadian oil explorer Sunshine Oilsands Ltd has set the price range for its up to $700 million Hong Kong initial public offering, setting in motion the biggest IPO so far this year in the Asian financial hub.

The company plans to sell 923.3 million shares in a range of HK$4.86-HK$5.08 each, according to a term sheet for the deal seen by Reuters on Tuesday. Including a greenshoe option to meet additional demand, the total IPO size could rise to HK$5.4 billion ($696 million).

Sunshine's IPO will be the first major share sale to get off the blocks in Hong Kong in what is expected to be another slow year after demand for new listings slumped 42 percent in 2011 from the year before..

A handful of companies have gone public in Hong Kong since the beginning of the year, with small deals that raised a total of about HK$1.58 billion.

The company and its bankers started drumming up demand for the offering on Jan. 30 and will begin a roadshow to take orders for the deal on Feb. 15. Pricing is slated for Feb. 24, according to the term sheet.