S'tomo Forestry buys into No.4 Australian homebuilder

TOKYO, Sept 28 (Reuters) - Japanese homebuilder Sumitomo Forestry Co (1911.OS) said on Monday it had acquired a 50 percent stake in Australia's No. 4 housing company, Henley Properties Group, as it tries to expand beyond its domestic market.

Melbourne-based Henley Properties sold 1,771 houses in the year that ended in June and has forecast A$490 million ($425 million) sales for the current financial year, Sumitomo Forestry said.

The company did not disclose the terms of the deal, and the Nikkei business daily said the acquisition price was a few billion yen. ($1=1.153 Australian Dollar) (Reporting by Taiga Uranaka)