When the transaction is completed, the specialist regional publisher will run 10 print sites and own 299 titles in the UK and Ireland.

Tim Bowdler, Johnston Press chief executive, said that no decisions had yet been made on future investments at the three plants at Portadown in Northern Ireland, Forfar in Scotland and Kilkenny in Ireland.

"We haven't been able to visit the plants yet so we only know what is in the public domain about them. But we are investors in the business and this is a major deal for us," he said.

The acquisition includes Morton Newspapers, Angus County Press, the Kilkenny People and The Hebridean.

Bowdler added that work at the new 60m Sheffield plant, which will contract print for News International, was "slightly ahead of schedule".

Johnston Press' deal is an offshoot of Emap's proposed acquisition of Score Press' owner, Scottish Radio Holdings (SRH).