Wyndeham's board have unanimously approved the 1.55 per share offer, which values the firm at 80.6m. The price represents a premium of 22% on the closing price of 1.27.5 of the firm's shares on 23 March, the day prior to the offer.

A City source said that they thought the approach was made because Wyndeham "is a good business with good management that has continued to improve its operations, profits and growth rate".

"We looked at it [the approach] from a shareholder perspective," said Wyndeham chief executive Paul Utting. "The bid does represent good value for our shareholders and it's good for the ongoing development of the business."

The Icelandic firm's chairwoman Thordis Siguroardottir (pictured) said the deal would give it a foothold in the UK.

"We announced six months ago that we were going to double in turnover and were looking for acquisitions abroad, in Scandinavia and the UK," she said. "We looked around and we found Wyndeham.

"It's a great company with fine profitability, excellent relationships and in a leading market position it's a good investment."

"Dagsbrn fully supports the existing strategy of Wyndeham," said Utting. "And the weight Dagsbrn has in terms of its other activities will add to the business."

On Dagsbrn's planned expansion here and elsewhere, he added: "Hopefully we'll be the spearhead of that."

The existing UK management team are all staying.

The offer is open for acceptance until 14 of April and is conditional on the acceptance of 90% of shares.

Dagsbrn
Media Interests
- Iceland's largest broadcasting and print firms, 365 Broadcasting and 365 Print Media, and Iceland's oldest print works

Biggest shareholder
- Baugur Group 24.9%

Baugur's UK Interests
- Iceland, Booker, Mappin & Webb, Hamleys, Jane Norman, Oasis, Karen Millen