Investec Bank (Australia) has doubled the size of its asset finance business, with the acquisition on Monday of Alliance Equipment Finance.Alliance, which was founded by Pat and Peter MacMillan in 1992, is a vendor finance specialist. Its vendor relationships include Konica Minolta, Cisco and document finishing specialist GBC Australia.The firm has 12,000 customers according to a notice at its website about the takeover.Investec is seeking to broaden its reach in the asset finance sector. The bank's present strengths in this field are in the medical sector, mainly in niches such as dentistry.Matthew Ingram, head of asset finance at Investec, said conditions in the asset finance market were picking up. "In the past few years we saw businesses tighten their budgets and sweat their equipment longer than they would usually. We see that cycle coming to an end."Investec will hire all 48 Alliance staff.