Heritage and Chapmans were included in the sale, together with GPV's overseas subsidiary in Romania, and will now fall under the Mayer Kuvert umbrella. Heritage was not available for comment at the time of writing.

Mayer Kuvert beat rival Spanish bidder Tompla in the final round after its offer, which is understood to have included fewer redundancies, was preferred by GPV management and the workers' council.

The Tribunal de Commerce court, which has overseen GPV's administration since it was placed in bankruptcy protection in June, decided in favour of the German manufacturer on 27 September.

Under the terms of the Mayer Kuvert bid, GPV's envelope plant in Davézieux on the outskirts of Lyon will be closed with the loss of around 200 manufacturing jobs. In total some 295 jobs will be cut across the group.

Edlef Bartl, managing director of Mayer Kuvert, said: "Unfortunately the declining envelope market forces us to cut capacities and to make personnel adjustments. We will have to close one of the production sites near Lyon to provide a secure future to the production site in Alsace.

"But this will allow us to carry on with all of the other production sites so that we are able to continue to work with 650 out of 945 employees of the entire GPV group."

According to a report in the French newspaper Le Parisien union officials negotiated a redundancy settlement equivalent to €15,000 (£13,100) per person, which was jointly funded by Mayer Kuvert and former shareholder RDBA.

Bartl added that the acquisition of Heritage and Chapmans would complement Mayer Kuvert's existing UK manufacturing capability. "In Great Britain the acquisition of Heritage Envelopes, which is a supplier of high-quality envelopes for the direct marketing sector, will enhance the offer that Eagle and Mekvale can make to their customer base," he said.

The current management of GPV will continue to steer the streamlined business, together with Bartl, who said: "The reorganisation will give a great opportunity for the management to work successfully and to lead the group of companies into a positive future."

Mayer Kuvert has said the acquisition of GPV, which produced 8.2bn envelopes in 2010, will make it the market leader with a total capacity of over 26bn envelopes per year. The group now includes nearly 50 companies in 23 countries and has 2,750 employees.