By Kane Wu and Julie Zhu

HONG KONG, Feb 26 (Reuters) - China's HongShan Capital Group (HSG) has hired Komi Kyu from Bain Capital to head a new local office in Japan, three sources with knowledge of the matter said.

Kyu, who joined HongShan as a managing director in January, has been tasked with gradually building up a Tokyo-based team and exploring opportunities ranging from growth-stage investments to buyouts, said the people, who declined to be named as they were not authorised to speak to the media.

HSG, formerly known as Sequoia Capital China, aims to hire several junior investment professionals for its Japan operation, said one of the people.

Prior to his new role, Kyu spent nearly 10 years at Bain Capital in Tokyo, working up the ranks from associate to managing director, his LinkedIn profile showed.

HSG and Bain declined to comment. Kyu did not respond to a Reuters request for comment.

Global and regional investors have flocked to Japan which has seen a surge in deal-making activity driven by corporate governance reforms and a weak yen.

Private equity-backed deals hit a record $35 billion in 2023, LSEG data showed.

China is historically Asia's biggest market for deals but there have been more private equity-backed mergers and acquisitions annually in Japan since 2022, the data showed.

Global investment firms including Carlyle and Warburg Pincus have been looking to beef up headcount in Japan to cope with increasing dealflow, sources have said.

Regional peers Hillhouse and FountainVest Partners also made their first foray in Japan in 2024 with new hires and investments.

HSG, which made its name with investments in China's tech champions including Alibaba 9988.HK, Bytedance and Meituan 3690.HK, started to cut deals in Japan a decade ago, according to one of the people.

Its investments in the country include construction management application provider ANDPAD and AI-powered contract management platform LegalForce.

HSG has been diversifying its investment focus since separating from Sequoia's U.S. operations last year.

It opened a London office last year to tap into late-stage and buyout deal opportunities in Europe. The office, HongShan's second overseas office after Singapore, focuses on the consumer, energy and healthcare sectors in the region.

In January, HSG clinched its largest buyout deal - an acquisition of Sweden's Marshall Group that valued the audio equipment maker at $1.15 billion.

HSG has more than 1,500 portfolio investments and manages more than $55 billion in assets.

(Reporting by Kane Wu and Julie Zhu; Editing by Edwina Gibbs)

((kane.wu@thomsonreuters.com; +85228436590; Reuters Messaging: kane.wu.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))