Bain to buy 80% stake in leasing firm Lionbridge

Global private equity firm Bain Capital said on Thursday that it had acquired an 80 percent stake in Chinese financial leasing company Lionbridge Financial Leasing (China) Co Ltd for an undisclosed sum.

People close to the deal told China Daily that the investment is more than 1 billion yuan ($163.3 million). It is also the largest transaction in China's financial leasing sector this year, according to a joint statement released by both companies.

"The investment marks Bain Capital's entry into China's financial services sector and is part of our efforts to capture business opportunities in the underserved small and medium-sized enterprise sector, where there is a large unmet financing demand," said Jonathan Zhu, managing director of Bain Capital.