The deal, announced last October, includes the $267m purchase price less $97m for current assets that are in excess of normalised working capital requirements and Quad/Graphics said it used cash and a revolving credit facility to fund the purchase.

"We are excited about our acquisition of Vertis and the opportunities it brings to advance our business and create value for our clients, employees and shareholders," Quad chief executive Joel Quadracci said in a statement.

"We have strengthened our retail ad insert, direct marketing and in-store marketing solutions, and have expanded our support services to include media planning and placement, and marketing services."

Vertis generated $1.1bn in revenues in 2012 along approximately $55m in EBITDA. But that wasn’t enough to help the company - which sold off its UK operations in 2005 - overcome a seemingly endless series of liquidity challenges triggered by the decline in traditional direct marketing that forced it into Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2008, 2010 and again last October.

Vertis CEO Gerald Sokol noted in a press release: "We have had the opportunity to work very closely with Joel Quadracci and his team over these last several months in planning a successful integration. More than ever, we are convinced that this combination represents the best possible outcome for our customers, employees and other stakeholders."

Quad said the addition of Vertis will help it not only expand geographically and increase its manufacturing flexibility, but also provide current customers with an enhanced range of products, services and revenue-generating solutions.

The combined company will have 25,000 employees in more than 70 print-production facilities located in North America as well as Latin America and Europe. "We are excited to begin our work as an expanded company and build on our long-standing commitment to take print to a higher level," Quadracci said. "Print has power in today's multichannel world and we know how to leverage that power to make print perform better than ever."