[SYDNEY] Mizuho Bank Ltd, part of Japan's third-largest lender by market value, is considering Australian commercial real estate projects as it seeks to top last year's US$2.5 billion of syndicated loans in the South Pacific nation.

The Tokyo-based bank may grow its commercial property lending in Australia and also plans to increase its debt capital markets business as other rivals hoard local assets, according to Sydney branch general manager Debra Hazelton. While Mizuho was the eighth-biggest lender to the nation's companies last year, the four largest banks led by Westpac Banking Corp snapped up 55 per cent of deals, Bloomberg-compiled data show.

"We would like to be more active in some parts of the property market," Ms Hazelton said. "Not retail residential, but commercial real estate that is somehow in our already established customers' portfolios."