Initially, when Manroland GB went into administration, administrator PricewaterhouseCooper (PwC) said that it was investigating a sale of the business independently, as well as maintaining a dialogue with Germany.

However, a spokeswoman for PwC told PrintWeek that a sale was now more likely to be triggered by events in Germany.

She said: "We are continuing to trade the business as normal in the UK while we work with the insolvency administrator in Germany who is exploring options and pursuing a sale of the Manroland Group globally."

Meanwhile, Werner Schneider, who has been appointed to oversee the parent company's insolvency, is understood to be talking to "close to 10 bidders", according to Bloomberg.

Sources close to the situation told the news service that domestic and foreign strategic buyers and financial investors are amongst those to have made offers.

Last week Werner Scheider suggested that the company could be broken up with interest coming from various parties for Manroland's three manufacturing sites.