According to reports in Canadian newspaper, the Globe and Mail, the creditors allege that a deal with an "unnamed buyer" had been planned as far back as June 2007 and that this should have been declared when the company filed for bankruptcy protection in January.

The value of this deal, the creditors allegedly claim, was "substantially greater" than both the sale to HHBV, announced this month, and the proposed sale to RSDB which fell through last December.

Legal action has not been ruled out by the creditors should an investigation conclude that there was a serious decline in the value of the assets over the past 18 months, however, it is unclear what options are open to them at this stage.

Either way, the deal was approved last week and is scheduled to be completed by the end of the month.

The buy by HHBV will complement the proposed acquisition of RSDB and create a European printing giant headed up by John Caris, current chief executive of RSDB.