A deadline of Friday night to request approval from shareholders was not met, throwing HHBV's plan for consolidation of the European printing industry into disarray.

In a statement released yesterday, RSDB said: "It is with regret that RSDB learned on Saturday [that HHBV] had been unsuccessful in securing finance for the proposed bid and as a result would have to abandon its resolve to make the bid."

John Caris, chief executive of RSDB, described the news as a "total surprise" which came in the final stages of negotiations.

He said: "HHBV has to think about whether it will now make another bid for the company. In the meantime, we have a healthy balance sheet and are aiming at consolidation."

HHBV is now left with Quebecor World's European assets, which it acquired in June with a view to merging the business with RSDB.

The private equity house launched a bid for RSDB in May but was forced to announce the delay of its offer at the end of last month.

Nicholas Mockett, a print specialist at Europa Partners, said: "This probably evidences the recent deteriorating state of the debt market and the economic malaise spreading through Europe.

"This may have rendered the banks nervous about the sustainability of a larger printing company – ad spend scale backs and reductions in consumers' discretionary spend (e.g. on magazines) could be significant."

The news is a further blow to RSDB chief executive John Caris who has already seen his shareholders reject an earlier bid for Quebecor World's European assets. Caris was due to head up the combined group.

In a statement, RSDB said it had not changed its consolidation strategy and will consider the situation that has arisen.

RSDB's shares have fallen 16.5% in early trading on the news.

More to follow…