Subsidiary of Starwood Capital Group, Principal Hayley is to open new £50m five-star hotel and spa in Liverpool by late 2017 or early 2018.
The luxury 227-bed hotel will open at the Grade II-listed Martins Bank building, and will create 200 jobs.
Principal Hayley CEO, Tony Troy said the acquisition gave them an important presence in the heart of Liverpool, where there was clear demand for a full service luxury hotel.
Castlewood Securities, which has owned the Martins Bank building for 20 years, has been acquired by Principal Hayley in the deal. Castlewood has obtained full planning and Listed Building consent for the proposed development.
Considered to be one of the finest neo-classical buildings, much of the UK's gold reserve was secretly transferred to Martins Bank at the start of the Second World War in order to hide it from a possible Nazi invasion.