Blackfriar: David stands ready to fight as US Goliath muscles in

That question must be weighing heavily on David Jackson, executive chairman of Redhall Industries, who this week watched Cooper Safety, the UK subsidiary of Cooper Industries, try to scupper his recommended takeover.

Wakefield-based engineer Redhall hoped to buy Mount, a stockmarket minnow, for 16.5m with 70p per share cash offer.

Its offer had the support of 45 per cent of Mount shareholders, and the unanimous backing of Mount's board.

Then late on Monday, Cooper Safety, a subsidiary of $5bn turnover Cooper Industries, said it too is considering buying Mount, and plans to offer at least 78p a share.

Mr Jackson is not one to shirk a fight, and his response to the rival approach was typically combative.

"It's a bit like David and Goliath, but I seem to recall David won," he said, admitting Cooper's interest took him by surprise.

"I get kicked in the stomach once a month in business, you always do.

"I'm somebody who responds to being kicked. I don't get stressed, I just think things through."

He was at the heart of one of Yorkshire's most acrimonious takeover battles in 2004 when Babcock narrowly won control of his Elland-based support services company Peterhouse.

Mr Jackson wants Mount to grow Redhall's presence in oil and gas, plus bolster its specialist manufacturing capability.

He has been chasing Mount, a component manufacturer, for three or four months, and hoped to make it his first acquisition in two years.

That others also find Mount an attractive prospect is no surprise to Mr Jackson, but he's rightly aggrieved after identifying the company's value and getting this far.

Cooper's potential offer, 11 per cent better than Redhall's, values Mount at 18.3m.

Cooper is expected to complete due diligence by the end of the week, a process unlikely to reveal any surprises as Redhall has already thoroughly examined Mount's books.

It too wants to make a recommended offer, and is speaking to Mount's board and shareholders to achieve this.

Mr Jackson insists he's not giving up, but Cooper's interest scuppers any hopes of a smooth deal.

If the 78p bid is forthcoming, as seems likely, the next battle may come down to who has the deepest pockets.

SHARES in credit lender International Personal Finance have shot up this week after the market reacted positively to the group's successful 43m Polish bond issue.

Leeds-based IPF, which was spun out of Bradford-based doorstep lender Provident Financial three years ago, needed to diversify its sources of funding.

At a time when lenders are struggling to survive, IPF has done remarkably well.

In July it reported a trebling in first half profits and said it is confident it can deliver further growth in the second half.

The group is optimistic it can raise 450m in bond and bank finance by the end of the year to fund its lending.

The company, which operates in Poland, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania and Mexico, lends small cash sums, mostly to women who are juggling the household budget.

Bad debts in Europe were higher than analysts had expected as a result of the extreme snow conditions at the start of the year in Poland.

Impairments in Central Europe climbed to 31.5 per cent of revenues from 30.6 per cent a year ago.

But this was due solely to the poor weather.

IPF said impairments will return to more normal levels of around 25 per cent in the second half.

IPF has found its niche in a difficult market.