A consortium of investors has until 16 January to make a formal bid for the Gresham Hotel Group or announce that it will not go ahead with its offer, the Irish Takeover Panel has ruled.
The group of investors, which is believed to be made up of three Irish businessmen, including one hotelier, has been told it has until 5pm tomorrow either to remove the precondition that it receives at least 80% of acceptances for its €1.35 (95p) a share offer or increase its bid.
The panel's ruling comes after a shareholder - believed to be majority shareholder Red Sea Hotels, which owns 28% of the company - said it "would not be prepared" to accept the €107m (£74m) approach at this time.
Gresham, which operates 10 hotels in Ireland, the UK and Europe, received the offer last November, just weeks after another takeover approach collapsed.