The bidding war for Imprint continued to send shock waves across the industry after OPD said it had extended its offer to 29 April after receiving additional acceptances. OPD said it received valid acceptances for 3.05m shares, about 7.89% of the total.

However, despite this latest chapter in the bidding war between OPD, Hydrogen, and Premier Group, Imprint's share price has failed to respond. Since the beginning of March it has continued to trade in a narrow range between 106p and 114p, even falling to 109p within a day of OPD's announcement.

The only company in this saga whose share price has benefited is OPD. Its shares rose from 147.5p on March 26 to 180p by close of trading on 9 April.

Kellan Group's share price hovered just above its 52-week low of 17p before rising to 21.5p by close of trading on 9 April. This was despite announcing improved results for its subsidiary Berkeley Scott for the 15-month period ending 31 December 2007. The hospitality recruiter made an adjusted EBITDA in the last quarter of £172k compared with a loss of £122k in the same quarter of 2006.

John Rose Kellan Group's chief executive told Recruiter he was "very pleased" with the results, and he was optimistic about future growth prospects. "The growth will come from acquisitions, but equally from organic growth," said Rose. He added: "The group is not exposed to the volatility in the market that is affecting some of our competitors."