Citronix's equipment is used for applying identifying marks, sell-by dates and lot codes. It primarily operates in the food and beverage industries but its products also have wider applications. The four-year-old company is based in Fort Worth, Texas.

The deal was announced on Monday (11 July). Domino group managing director Nigel Bond said: "Citronix has successfully established a position in the market for continuous ink-jet  products and demonstrated strong growth."

The Citronix brand will be retained and the business will continue to operate separately from Domino. Citronix was profitable
in 2004, its first full year of trading, and Domino expects the acquisition to be earnings accretive from 2006.

Domino paid 5.7m in cash and has taken on 114,000 in debt. A deferred consideration of up to a further 11.4m is payable over five years from January 2006, subject to Citronix meeting profit targets.
In the past 18 months Domino has acquired  Pri-Ma-Tech, Purex, Sator Laser and Wiedenbach.

Shares rose 5p to 245p on the news.

By Jo Francis