Photo taken on Sept 28, 2013 shows the night view of the Wanda Plaza in Wuhan, Hubei province. [Photo/IC]

Conglomerate Dalian Wanda Group Corp Ltd announced on Friday the purchase of a landmark commercial project in Madrid for 2.25 billion yuan ($364 million), the latest in a series of high-profile international acquisitions.

Wanda bought the high-rise building from Spanish bank Banco Santander SA, which also has businesses in retail banking, asset management and insurance.

The purchase was conducted through Hong Kong subsidiary Wanda Commercial Properties (Hong Kong) Co Ltd and its

Hong Kong-listed arm Wanda Commercial Properties (Group) Co Ltd, which is controlled by Wanda Commercial Properties (Hong Kong) Co Ltd.

The listed company said in a statement to the Hong Kong stock exchange that the property will be redeveloped into "a high-end, mixed-use complex comprising residential, hotel and retail" space with a gross floor area of about 83,228 square meters.

The complex will feature a 200-room luxury hotel, retail space and about 300 apartments.

Total funding of HK$3.7 billion ($477 million) has been committed for the development.

Wanda said in the statement that the property's exceptional location and valuation, combined with the local government's plan to renovate the neighborhood, prompted the purchase.

According to the statement, a new entity called Wanda Europe has been created specifically for the acquisition and development of properties in Europe. The new company has funding of HK$12.5 billion.

"The board is of the view that as Continental Europe emerges stronger from the recent financial turbulence and challenges, it presents attractive long-term investment opportunities in the property sector. Such opportunities are in line with the group's strategy of seeking to diversify its sources of income," said Wanda Commercial Properties (Group) Co Ltd in the statement.

The Madrid deal is part of a plan that Chairman Wang Jianlin revealed earlier that involves the establishment of Wanda hotels in 10 major overseas cities over the next eight to 10 years.

Wanda, which has interests in commercial property, luxury hotels, tourism and department stores, has been active in making cross-border deals in recent years.

It has spent more than 50 billion yuan since 2012 on acquisitions. In June last year, Wanda acquired United Kingdom-based yacht builder Sunseeker International Ltd for 320 million pounds ($536 million).

In May 2012, it bought AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc for $2.6 billion, including debt, making it the biggest theater operator in the United States.

Chinese businessman buys emblematic Spanish building

Chinese businessman Wang Jianlin bought the emblematic building known as "Edificio Espana" in Madrid after reaching an agreement with Spain's Grupo Santander, president of the Community of Madrid Ignacio Gonzalez said on Wednesday.

According to local media, Gonzalez told reporters during an event in Madrid that Emilio Botin, Executive Chairman of Spain's Grupo Santander, had confirmed the sale of the building on Tuesday.

Gonzalez explained that he had met Wang last week to "reach some agreements on investment projects," adding the sale of the building will be very important to recover the area of Spain Square in Madrid, where the building is located.

The Edificio Espana is an example of the Spanish architecture from the 1940s and 1950s. It was inaugurated in 1953 as the highest building in Europe with its 117 meters high.

The construction required an investment of 200 million pesetas (1.67 million U.S. dollars), Spain's former currency, and it took five years to build its 25 floors, 32 lifts, 184 apartments, a luxury hotel with 307 rooms, a ballroom for 1,200 people and a swimming pool on the upper deck.

The building was a hotel, a shopping center and it had apartments and offices until 2006. Its rehabilitation began in 2007, but it stopped afterwards and the "Edificio Espana" became an abandoned building.