Dutch print and publishing group Mercurius Groep Wormeveer has bought London's Imprima and merged it with its financial print arm De Bussy.


The deal has created a "true pan-European" financial print group with sales of 20m and wholly-owned facilities in five cities, said Imprima managing director Henry Lee.


Imprima's decision to merge with De Bussy was part of its strategy to move away from venture capital backing, said Lee. 3i and the Bank of Scotland backed Lee's MBO team when it bought the firm, then known as Oyez Press, from BPC in August 1997.


Lee, the rest of the management team and the Imprima name, which was launched last year, will all remain.


"It's a go-ahead name. It suggests print but doesn't constrain us," said Lee.


"We use every distribution method under the sun. Soon we'll be using the sun."


Imprima produces a range of financial print but specialises in prospectuses, while De Bussy prints a lot of financial advertising and stocks and bonds.


"We'll carry on doing what each company is best at," added Lee.


Story by Lauretta Roberts