Bain Capital buys stake in biomass firm for $400 million

(Reuters) -Bain Capital Private Equity said on Thursday it has completed a deal to acquire a stake in EcoCeres Inc, a biomass firm majority owned by Hong Kong & China Gas, as the Boston-based investor strives to ramp up its sustainable investment.

Bain said in response to a Reuters query that the firm invested $400 million of growth capital for a significant stake in the company, marking one of the its largest transactions in Asia related to environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues.

After the transaction, EcoCeres would be mutually controlled by Bain Capital and Hong Kong & China Gas, rather than being solely controlled by the latter as previously, according to a filing about the transaction published on the website of China's State Administration for Market Regulation in November.

The deal follows a Series A investment in EcoCeres from Kerogen Capital last February, Bain said.

The new funding will be used to build EcoCeres' facilities in Malaysia to serve international clients and boost total output capacity, according to Bain.

(Reporting by Riya Sharma in Bengaluru, Kane Wu in Hong Kong and Roxanne Liu in Beijing; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)