The press was owned by asset-based lender Close Print Finance and as such was not included in The Print Factory London (1991) assets sold by the administrator to Lexicon Press.

Polestar managing director of web offset Phil Boynes said that the press would be a valuable addition to Chantry's already "extensive press and bindery capability".

"With this press, we will have some additional added value features and the ability to carry them out on one machine, giving us greater flexibility and efficiency," he said. The machine will replace an existing 32-page M600 at the site, which is currently being dismantled.

The loss of the M600 is seen by some as major blow for Lexicon, with one senior industry source stating that it could be "a nail in the coffin" for the firm.

"I would imagine that the budget they put together to buy that business would be based on having that press and without it those numbers may be unrealistic," he said.

However, Lexicon Press managing director Andrew Parker strongly refuted those claims. He said: "Plans to replace the M600 with comparable web offset capacity are well advanced and we'll soon be in a position to give details."

He added that the DM printer was also looking at bringing some of its added-value services, especially in relation to personalisation, in-house in coming months.