The firm, formed after both companies were bought by CVC Capital Partners in deals worth 473m, will be headed up by chief executive Peter Koivula.

The company will be headquartered in Stuttgart and will have six divisions: narrow web, printing plates, packaging inks, publication inks, sheetfed inks and pigments and resin.

Dirk Aulbert, managing director of Xsys Germany and president of the sheetfed division, said: "It's clear that the fit between the firms is very good. The aim is to become the best-known and most profitable of the full range suppliers."

"This deal is the combination of two successful companies to create an even more successful company, with a wider and more sophisticated range of products."

He said that the firms would "take advantage of some synergies" to consolidate parts of the business, but details of any potential redundancies in the 3,500-strong workforce are not finalised.

Aulbert added that the firm, which had sales of 577m (830m) last year, would turn a profit. "You must invest money to progress and develop new products, and you must generate money in order to invest," he said.

Story by Josh Brooks