Japanese real estate firm Daibiru has entered the Australian market and appointed TH Real Estate to manage its first acquisition, an AUD240m (€153m) project in central Sydney.

Daibiru bought the site earmarked for an 18-storey office block in George Street at a yield of 4.5% from the Chinese-controlled John Holland.

Toshiyuki Sonobe, Daibiru’s CEO, said: “A landmark Sydney CBD address, combined with a state-of-the-art quality office development, in a market with high levels of transparency and liquidity is a very attractive investment proposition for us.”

Australia is the second overseas market for the Japanese investor. It first ventured offshore in 2012 to Vietnam, where it is now developing its third office tower.

As with Vietnam, Australia is seen as a “priority” market for Daibiru.

Sonobe said the Australian market has the added attractions of having stable economy and forecast population growth.

Under what it terms as “medium-term management plan”, the Japanese company is allocating ¥40bn (€316m) from its total current planned investment of ¥120bn to overseas investment.

The appointment marks TH Real Estate’s first partnership with Daibiru.

Sonobe said that he hopes to grow what will be a “strong and trusted” relationship with TH Real Estate.

Nick Evans, executive director and head of Australia at TH Real Estate said the building expands on and complements TH Real Estate’s real estate exposure and is ideally positioned to benefit from strong tenant demand in Sydney.