Shareholders controlling about a quarter of Gresham Hotel Group are expected to have accepted the Precinct consortium's bid for the company by the end of today.

The first deadline for acceptance of the €1.30-per-share offer, which is conditional on a 54 per cent approval rate, passes this afternoon at 3pm.

The Precinct investors - Mr Bryan Cullen, Mr JJ Murphy and Mr David Coleman - have promised to raise the bid to €1.35 per share if they can achieve an 80 per cent approval rate.

This looks to be an extremely remote possibility since Gresham's largest shareholder, Red Sea, continues to oppose the Precinct takeover move.

A spokesman for Red Sea, which holds 24 per cent of Gresham as well as 4 per cent in preference shares, confirmed last night that the firm was "not for moving" on the issue.

It is furthermore unclear how Mr Balram Chanrai, a businessman believed to be based in Hong Kong who controls 10.3 per cent, intends to proceed on the matter. If, as expected, he actively opposes Precinct, the consortium may struggle to meet even the 54 per cent target.

The Takeover Panel has been examining possible links between Mr Chanrai and Red Sea, although none have been proven. Mr Chanrai has built his stake over the past month.

It is thought that most of the investors who have thus far accepted the Precinct offer are smaller shareholders.

Two institutions that between them hold about 2 per cent are also understood to have approved the bid.

Market sources were last night predicting that the three Precinct investors would opt to extend the offer after today's first closing date in the belief that they could still meet the 54 per cent level.

This has not been confirmed however.

An update on the consortium's intentions is expected tomorrow morning, with Red Sea also likely to make a statement on the matter in the course of tomorrow.

Shares in Gresham closed unchanged at €1.28 last night.