An article in The Sunday Times has linked the UK print giant, which has been undergoing a refinancing process for several months, with Sun Capital Partners.

It was claimed that the two parties are in talks concerning a potential acquisition of the magazine and commercial print group.

Polestar has been owned by its senior debt holders, including JP Morgan, Deutsche Bank, RBS and Bluebay, since a debt-for-equity swap in December 2006 cost previous owner Investcorp its entire £250m investment in the company.

Both Polestar and Sun Capital declined to comment; however, M&A experts said the deal would be a boost for the printer and its customers.

Nicholas Mockett, partner at Moorgate Capital, said: "It strikes me that this is good news for the customers who have voiced concern following the recently announced sale of St Ives' magazine division.

"Barry and his team have steered Polestar through some turbulent waters, including the slump of the early 2000s, September 11th and then the severe recession at the end of the decade.

"It is good to see the opportunities they have created in remodelling the business being recognised by a well-known VC."

According to its website, Sun Capital has approximately $8bn (£4.9bn) of equity capital under management and can invest more than $2bn of capital in any one transaction. It focuses its investments on market leaders with $50m to $5bn in sales across a range of industries.

The company states that it often bridges the entire purchase price at closing; raising permanent debt financing afterwards and adds that it is one of the very few private equity firms that has completed all transactions to which it has committed, despite the difficult economic and financing environment since 2007.