Adds more information, quote and context throughout

By Chandni Shah and Yantoultra Ngui

May 17 (Reuters) - U.S. investment firm Bain Capital has raised $10.5 billion for its latest Asia private equity fund, beating expectations, in a sign that investors are still willing to back established buyout firms in the region despite market uncertainty.

It said on Sunday that its sixth pan-Asia fund, Bain Capital Asia Fund VI, closed above its $7 billion target. The total included about $9.1 billion from outside investors, with Bain partners, employees and related entities providing the rest.

Reuters reported in March that the firm was close to wrapping up fundraising for the fund.

The fundraising shows that large global private equity firms can still attract capital for Asia investing even as the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran and volatile energy prices add to a difficult fundraising environment.

Bain's latest fund close comes less than a month after Sweden's EQT raised $15.6 billion for BPEA Private Equity Fund IX, the largest Asia-Pacific dedicated private equity fund to date.

In a statement, Bain said the fundraising reflected investor confidence in its 20-year track record in Asia and its ability to invest through complexity.

"We continue to see significant opportunity across the region," said Yuji Sugimoto, partner and head of Asia private equity, in the statement.

The firm has nearly 200 investment and operating professionals across Japan, India, China, Australia and South Korea.

Bain said its Asia private equity platform focuses on sectors including technology, industrials, consumer, healthcare, and business and financial services.

Bain has been involved in several large Japanese deals, including the acquisition of Seven & i Holdings' supermarket and specialty store businesses and the 2024 listing of chipmaker Kioxia, which it acquired as Toshiba Memory in a consortium-led deal in 2018.

Bain raised $7.1 billion for its fifth pan-Asia fund in 2023, making the new fund almost 48% larger.