The company lost its in-house web capacity shortly after it bought the Northampton print site of failed print manager The Print Factory London (1991), following asset-based lender Close Print Finance's decision to sell the secondhand Goss M600 16-page press at the site to Polestar Chantry.

Since then, it has been searching for a suitable replacement in order to avoid having to outsource the work. Talks with York Mailing are understood to have been taking place for at least a month.

Commenting on the deal, Lexicon Press managing director Andrew Parker said: "This is the ideal outcome for us – the right facility, in the right place, at the right time. It gives us the web offset firepower we wanted to complement our existing strengths on the sheetfed side and means we now have precisely the blend of capabilities and services our clients are looking for."

York Mailing could not be reached for comment at the time of writing, however, industry sources have speculated that the company's Centre Web site was no longer a fit for its business model, following investments in larger 32pp, 48pp and 64pp web presses at its main site in York.

The deal, which is understood to have completed yesterday evening (3 June), included the TUPE transfer of all Centre Web staff, thought to number around 50.