According to sources close to the sale, Bank of Scotland Corporate put in 114m, with the remainder being raised by the MBO team.

Whiteside and his team will take a majority equity stake. He declined to comment on the exact figure, but said it was "significant".

Industry sources have suggested that Adare's net debt stood at around 70m at the time of the deal.

Adare has 1,200 staff across 17 locations, and an annual turnover of 160m. Its operations include the Kall Kwik and Prontaprint franchises.

Following the deal, it will move its HQ from Dublin to Huddersfield, while chairman Nelson Loane will retire.

The sale marks the completion of an auction following a review commissioned by the owner of Dublin private equity firm Allen, McGuire & Partners (AMP).

"It's been a long but a successful journey to complete this deal," said Whiteside.

He added that he intended to bed the business in for the next 12 months before developing its products and business platform into Europe.

He denied speculation of a sale of the group's Prontaprint business, and would not rule out future acquisitions.

AMP joint managing director Eamonn Allen said he was "very happy with the deal".

The sale means the company has now divested all of its printing interests.

Corporate finance specialist Livingstone Guarantee, which has worked with Adare before, brokered the deal.