Global Radio, the owner of Heart 106.2, has agreed to buy Capital Radio-owner GCap for £375 million. In a statement to the market last night Global Radio said that after a period of due diligence its offer of 225p a share for GCap, which also owns Classic FM and Xfm, had been accepted.

It added: “The Directors of GCap intend unanimously to recommend that GCap shareholders vote in favour of the transaction.”

At yesterday’s 5pm deal deadline, the Takeover Panel announced that Global Radio had been granted a further day to table a firm offer to try to iron out final details but in the end the deal was signed within an hour.

Global’s interest in GCap and its initial approach was first revealed by The Times in January.

Global Radio chairman Charles Allen said of GCap: “We believe that this is a very strong business with brands and assets that are highly complementary to those of the Global Radio Group. We are excited by the opportunity to build on GCap's position as the leading commercial radio player and are committed to providing the best platform for both our advertisers and listeners.”

There were concerns over the weekend about whether an Ofcom probe into a phone-in competition across GCap's stations could scupper the deal. However, sources said at the time that this was unlikely.

It emerged last week that the owner of Heart 106.2 and Galaxy had the financing lined up despite concerns over the credit crunch and prospects for the British advertising industry.

Global investors putting up the money included the Irish businessmen JP McManus, John Magnier and Dermot Desmond, and Michael Tabor, the father of Global’s chief executive, Ashley Tabor.Global Radio’s private backers are understood to have agreed to provide two thirds of the funding in cash to acquire GCap Media.

Global and GCap have been in talks regarding a possible recommended offer for most of the past month after Global raised its offer for GCap to 225p per share on March 4. A deadline for making a firm offer was originally set for last week but it was extended by five days following a request from Global. GCap had previously rejected two Global offers at 190p and 202p.

GCap’s leading institutional shareholders, who include Schroders, Daily Mail & General Trust and Fidelity, have welcomed Global’s latest approach. They are long-term investors but the value of their stakes has steadily dwindled since Capital Radio and rival GWR merged in 2005 in a £711 million deal.

GCap said in a trading update yesterday morning, before the deadline for Global to table an offer, that underlying revenue in the quarter to the end of March was likely to be up 4 per cent, while its statutory revenue for the year was likely to be flat.

Fru Hazlitt, GCap’s chief executive, had insisted that her strategy for the group would deliver more value to shareholders than an offer from Global Radio.Global Radio, which is chaired by Charles Allen, the former chief executive of ITV, bought Chrysalis Radio’s stations last July for £170 million.

The stock market closed before the deal was announced with GCap’s shares ending down 4.75p to 196.25p.

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