South Korea's Lotte Group said on Sunday that it had signed a contract to buy the New York Palace Hotel in Manhattan for $805 million from real estate management firm Northwood Investors.

Hotel Lotte Co Ltd, an unlisted unit of Lotte Group, will lead the formation of a new company that will acquire and operate the Palace, a Lotte Group spokeswoman said.

"Hotel Lotte is a company that has been actively entering markets abroad. We have continuously been looking for fitting M&A opportunities and we have found one in New York with symbolic significance," the spokeswoman said.

The company has been opening and buying hotels in Russia, Vietnam, Uzbekistan and Guam since 2010. It is also in the process of building hotels in China and Myanmar.

Hotel Lotte plans to complete the takeover by late August after getting necessary procedures done, Lotte Group said in a statement.

Northwood Investors could not be immediately reached for comment.