Its US division has acquired the business that was supplying the UV coatings (also known as liquid laminates) used in its equipment.

Under the terms of the deal for intellectual property and manufacturing and packaging equipment, the company has agreed not to disclose the name of the vendor.

Also included in the deal were several staff who, along with the equipment, have transferred to the group's Canadian factory.

The move gives Drytac a complete UV coating range, with the addition of its own consumables boosting the hardware technology it acquired last year through the purchase of another US firm, AFS.

Drytac UK managing director Neil Gomez described buying the coatings business as "a very natural thing to do following the acquisition of AFS".

He also revealed that, due to the strong growth of UV coating and liquid laminating, the business was set to open a second manufacturing and packing line in 2010 to meet global demand at its UK site in Bristol.

The Bristol site has recently had a £150,000 investment in one of its film laminate lines. "We've needed to ramp up production due to the pick up in business worldwide," said Gomez.

The investment has doubled the productivity, improved product quality and reduced energy consumption, according to Gomez. The line applies water-based rather than solvent coated films which the firm claimed offers environmental benefits over solvent-based products.