Thistle Hotels revealed it has received approaches which could lead to an offer being made for the company.

Chairman of Thistle Hotels, Rodney Price said: "A number of enquiries have been made over the last several weeks which have built up in the last week. There is a mixture of trade and financial buyers involved,"

The company is now reviewing the offer with Greenhill & Co, its financial advisor.

Leeds-based Thistle's shares quickly put on around a fifth in value - by mid-morning they were trading at 244p compared with Monday's closing price of 200.5p.

Analysts predicted that if Thistle stayed at this price, its biggest shareholder - Brierley Investments of New Zealand which owns a 46% stake - would be almost certain to sell up.

Mystery suitors

But mystery surrounds the identity of Thistle's suitor or suitors.

Nick Redfern of Kleinwort Benson speculated it could be an American company but poured cold water on the idea that Glasgow-based hotel and leisure group Stakis, which is keen to grow, would be able to swallow Thistle.

"Bear in mind Thistle's current market capitalisation is about £1.5bn - that's far too big for Stakis to swallow. Its market capitalisation is about £1bn," Mr Redfern said.

Thistle has found itself at the centre of market speculation in recent months ever since Brierley put all its major investments under review.

New chief executive Ian Burke said when he joined Thistle from Bass in April that he considered Brierley to be a long-term investor and did not believe it would sell its shareholding in the foreseeable future.

A few weeks later these sentiments were echoed by Thistle's chairman Rodney Price who reassured shareholders Brierley's review did not signal an imminent move to sell its stake.

However many in the City seemed to think it was inevitable Brierley would eventually sell up - according to press reports some candidates for the chief executive's post were put off by this uncertainty.

The position was left vacant after the departure late last year of long standing chief executive Robert Peel amid reports Brierley was unhappy with the group's performance.

In 1997 Thistle made a pre-tax profit of £80.5m on sales of £319.7m - this compared with £60.1m on £290.3m in 1996, but the figures were still at the low end of analysts' predictions.

Thistle owns 91 hotels across Great Britain, including 24 in London and 21 in Scotland.

It has recently concentrated in building up its chain of four-star Thistle-branded hotels and disposing of other properties.

The announcement from Thistle follows the disclosure by hotel operator Vaux Group last week that it too had received an unsolicited bid approach. Stakis has also been linked to Vaux.