The take-over was agreed last November, creating a single printing company with approximately 50,000 employees worldwide. The deal has now been approved by regulatory authorities.

The combined company, which will be traded under the RR Donnelley name, has a board of 15 directors - eight from RR Donnelly and seven from Moore Wallace.

Under the agreement RR Donnelley has assumed around 494m of Moore Wallace debt. RR Donnelley has announced that it intends to raise 549m through issuing unsecured shares in five- and 10-year tranches.

RR Donnelley chief executive Mark Angelson said that the company would offer the worlds leading corporations an unparalleled suite of print products.

There will be virtually no printing solution a company could require that we cannot meet by drawing on our exceptional pre-media resources, production capabilities, logistics resources and IT systems, said Angelson.

by John Davies