A spokesperson for Roto Smeets told printweek.com that "both parties will have a rest at Christmas and expect to be in contact in January".

"We have to see whether we can come to an arrangement that will get the approval of our shareholders."

The spokesperson maintained that the shareholders were uniformly behind Roto Smeets' strategy of consolidation of the European market and that the barrier was simply down to a disagreement over price.

"Give them some time to rethink this deal and hope that all the effort both parties put in it over the last year will finally bear fruits," she said.

Nicholas Mockett of finance advisory firm Europa Partners said he did not think that Quebecor World Inc would shut the door on a renewed bid, given the weakened position of Quebecor World Europe.

"It's in a pretty vulnerable position," he said. "It would be quite keen to have a dialogue," said Mockett.

However, he said that the potential to resurrect the deal would depend on the proportion of shareholders that vetoed the acquisition.

Roto Smeets said of the 79% of shareholders present, 84% vetoed the deal – just shy of two-thirds of all voting shares.

These included Laxey Partners, Riva Investments and Marsala, which between them hold a 38.1% stake in the company.

Mockett said that if a shareholder that had opposed the deal could be persuaded to sell, there might be an activist fund that could step in and take over those shares in order to move the deal on.

"The biggest obstacle is getting consent from the shareholders of Roto Smeets," he said.

However, he added that with this level of objection, any new bid would also have to be "materially different".