The sale to investors including affiliates of Irving Place Capital Management and Oaktree Capital Management, marks the completion of the reorganisation of the company's US operations.

Chesapeake has also made the transition from being a publicly traded company, listed in the US, to a private company, headquartered in Amersham in the UK.

The company and its US operating subsidiaries had filed for voluntary Chapter 11 petitions in the Eastern District of Virginia in Richmond. Its non-US subsidiaries were not included in the Chapter 11 filings.

It is now led by Jerry Kerins, who was previously chairman of Insulair – a printed disposable coffee cups business. He will take on the role as chairman and chief executive and will be based in Amersham.

In a statement, Kerins said that with the financial backing of the new partners, the company is "ideally positioned" to support and continue to grow.

"We can now move forward with our plans to expand the business with a strong capital structure and renewed enthusiasm," he said.

In December last year, it was announced that the private equity group would acquire all 42 of the company's business operations, including 16 in the UK and Northern Ireland.

Bob Houghton, corporate marketing and communications manager, said the company now has an appropriate structure that is right for the business.

"As a listed company, we had lots of associated costs, such as compliance to Sarbanes-Oxley, regulatory quarterly results reporting, investor relations etc, which were a drain on the business.

"The transformation from a US-listed company to a private European business has transformed our balance sheet and provides us with longer-term capital to focus on growth and development."

Houghton said that the offer from the investor affiliates had been tabled early in the process as a "stalking horse" bid, and despite interest from other parties, remained the only bid.

He added that putting the business through Chapter-11 had resulted in its debt being "virtually wiped out" and described the company as now being in an "enviable position".

Chesapeake is now looking at several projects that were postponed or delayed due to its restructuring process and said it expects to move forward with these plans.

"We want to ensure we have the best geographical footprint to meet our customers’ future needs and we will be looking at all options to grow and further develop the business."

Chesapeake manufactures folding cartons, leaflets and labels for the pharmaceutical, confectionery and drinks markets, and rigid plastics packaging for niche markets.