The Swedish firm, which will take on MacDermid Printing Blankets' 400 employees, entered the deal to bolster its position in the profitable market of printing blankets: polymer coated composite fabrics deigned in several layers for use in commercial offset printing.

MacDermid, which is headquartered in Denver with production units in the US and France and a global sales force, last year achieved annual sales of about £44.8m from its blankets division.

The acquisition cements Trelleborg's strategy to lead the printing blankets market. In 2006 it entered the market when it bought printing blankets firm Reeves Brothers. Trelleborg claims that this latest deal makes it the market leader in Europe and puts it in second place in the US.

Lennart Johansson, Trelleborg Engineered Systems' business area president, said in a statement: "We are now strengthening our offering further in terms of the product portfolio and geographic presence with the aftermarket, as well as OEM sales."

The deal is expected to be concluded during the second quarter of this year and is subject to approval from the competition authorities.

MacDermid's operations will be integrated with the existing business in Trelleborg Engineered Systems. Trelleborg achieved sales in 2007 of about £2.6bn. It employs more than 25,000 staff in 40 countries.

MacDermid Printing Blankets was owned by US parent MacDermid, which last year sold ColorSpan to HP.