IN THE AIDS era the heightened awareness of safe sex is opening up vast new markets for condom manufacturers. Britain's London International Group, the world's biggest producer of the alternative flexible friend, this week announced a £68 million takeover in the US of the rival Aladan group with the promise of further acquisitions to come. Chief executive Nick Hodges said that the purchase of Aladan could be the first of many penetrative forays to enhance market share.

LIG, which owns the Durex brand, has an estimated 21 per cent of the global branded market and the acquisition of Aladan gives the British group 25 per cent of the US branded market.

Hodges, oblivious to the nuances of non business phraseology, fires the imagination in claiming that LIG is "the only global player in condoms", surely the linguistic equivalent to opening the door in your dressing gown.