The deal was confirmed on 29 December and gives Appleton access to the UK and western European markets.

Appletons corporate communications manager, Bill Van Den Brandt, said the company had been looking to grow in the security products market, and the location of BemroseBooth made it a good platform to grow the security business.

Both companies would also benefit from shared technologies and product development projects, he said.

The two companies had been in discussions for just over a year, and Van Den Brandt said a transition team would be put in place to look at the best way of maximising opportunities across the two businesses.

Van Den Brandt said he did not expect any changes to staffing levels across the two companies, as the emphasis would be on growing the business.

BemroseBooth business development director Andy Blundell said the deal was very much in the long-term interest of the company, and made it part of a billion dollar turnover group.

The acquisition would also enable the company to advance its development of new products and technologies, given the synergies between the two parties, he said.

BemroseBooth employs nearly 850 staff at three manufacturing sites in the UK, Derby, Hull and Teeside, and posted sales of 62m and a pre-tax profit of 4.3m in the year to June 2003, and was at number 27 in the PrintWeek Top 500.

Its products include security printed vouchers and tickets, transport tickets, variable data labelling and secure mailing.

The company evolved from a 28.5m MBO in June 2000, when Bemrose Corporation sold its specialist print division to the management team led by chief executive Graham Bennington.

An employee-sponsored buyout saw Appleton split from parent company Arjo Wiggins Appleton in a 562m ($810m) deal in 2001.

With its headquarters in Wisconsin, Appleton has plants in Ohio and Pennsylvania, with around 2,600 employees, and has annual sales of just over 500m.

Story by Jo Francis and Andy Scott