Leach, who is the only listed director of JF Print, which changed its name from Mateu UK on 9 December, is currently listed as the UK book sales contact on former Mateu Cromo parent Dedalo Grupo Grafico's website.

Leach declined to comment on whether Dedalo Grupo Grafico, which was formed through the 2003 merger of Polestar and Grupo Prisa's Spanish-based print facilities, was behind the bid.

He said: "I am unwilling to comment on any speculation like that until such point as we have a finalised deal. At this moment in time there's an ongoing discussion.

"We're going through due diligence so we're pretty well committed to the deal, but until it's finally signed, any business partners would have to stay confidential."

Haynes Publishing Group announced last week that it had received an offer for its Somerset-based book manufacturing division, which employs around 45 staff.

Leach said the site was "more than capable of producing paperback and hardback books, either web or sheetfed, mono or colour".

Managing director J Haynes told PrintWeek that the company had not been attempting a sale of the division, but that it had been approached with a deal that he was now hopeful would complete.

Yeovil-based Haynes, which recorded a pre-tax profit of £7.1m on a turnover of £31.1m for the year ending 31 May 2008, currently has two print facilities – one in the UK and one in the US.

According to its latest accounts, gross margins at its UK print site have been hit by a higher mix of low margin external print services.