Ireland's Jurys Doyle Hotel Group has acquired British company Chamberlain Hotels for £42 million sterling, (euro 66.7 million).
The purchase extended its hotel portfolio to 31 throughout Britain, Ireland, and the US, Jurys said in a statement.
It already has six hotels and five inns in Britain. The acquisition includes the Chamberlain Tower Hotel in Birmingham, the city's largest, with 445 bedrooms. It will operate as Jurys Birmingham Inn with immediate effect.
Jurys chief executive Mr Pat McCann said the acquisition was a "tremendous deal for the company."
He said the Birmingham Tower, together with a new hotel in Croydon, south London, which due to open in January 2002, would add 685 rooms to Jurys' existing British portfolio of 870 rooms.
Jurys shares were up over one per cent at euro 9.40 in Dublin by 1.45 p.m.