RPC, the UK-based plastic packaging supplier, announced the €386m (£306m) acquisition of Iceland-based Promens Group. Promens has 40 plants, the bulk of which (35) are in eastern Europe, to RPC Group's 50 plants throughout Europe, the UK, US and China... DST signed a three-year deal with Virgin Media for the production of all of its marketing communications print in the UK. The seven-figure deal is entirely new business for DST, which will produce most of the work in-house while using an audited roster of suppliers for specific items, such as envelopes, where it does not have the manufacturing expertise... Potts Print (UK) hit the M&A trail for the second time in 2014 and added wide-format to its in-house product offering with a deal for a local print firm, Digital XL Services, for an undisclosed sum... Ofcom accused Royal Mail of setting its access prices in such a way as to "discourage or even prevent competition in bulk mail delivery". At the same time the regulator has dismissed Royal Mail's June complaint that competition from entrants to the end-to-end delivery market, of which Whistl is by far the largest, is a threat to its Universal Service Obligation... APS Group won KBA UK’s annual 1814 Production Excellence Award. APS's award-winning performance encompassed a wide range of job types, ranging from a 9,858 run job on uncoated stock that was completed in 51 minutes to a mammoth job that involved 410,000 sheets and 52 pallets, which was running for just over 27 hours... The government unveiled a nearly £1bn package of support for SMEs ahead of its Autumn Statement, including £500m of new bank lending under the Enterprise Finance Guarantee Scheme. The following day, chancellor George Osborne set out the Conservative party's stall for next May's general election, urging the electorate to "stay the course"... Commercial printer Colchester Print Group has become an employee-owned business after staff took a majority stake in the business through a trust scheme. The firm said that the transition would provide a succession plan for the business, help increase prosperity for its employees and make it an inspiration for other businesses in East Anglia... Kodak chief Jeff Clarke announced a new business structure for the company. The two overarching business units, Digital Printing and Enterprise and Entertainment and Commercial Films, were to be replaced with five “market-focused” divisions: Print Systems, Enterprise Inkjet Systems, Micro 3D Printing and Packaging, Software and Solutions and Consumer and Film... Polestar’s new 96pp web presses created an investment dilemma for UPM Caledonian Paper. The mill was not able to produce reels in the 2.86m width required by Polestar's new presses – although UPM could manufacture them at other mills in Europe. UPM was talking to publishing clients to assess which titles are likely to move onto the new presses at Polestar, and what the likely impact will be in terms of tonnage that could be lost at Caledonian... Doveton Press invested £1.3m in a site extension, Tharstern MIS, and new print and finishing equipment including a Heidelberg Speedmaster XL 75-4+L, as it sought to maximise efficiency at its Bristol factory... Mercian Labels announced the merger of its subsidiary AC Labels into its main business, with effect from the new year. Mercian acquired the assets and goodwill of AC Labels in April 2010, one month after the company was placed in administration... Following the death of Kathy Woodward, the BPIF appointed Charles Jarrold as its new chief executive. Meanwhile, Berforts Group chief executive Gerald White was named as the body's new president, taking over the reins from ASG Europe chief executive Tony Garnish... Capita acquired Birmingham-based Complete Imaging and integrated it into the managed print services arm of its Document & Information Services business. David Lockie, divisional managing director of Capita Document & Information Services, said: "We are successfully pushing ahead with our strategy to grow apace and to seamlessly integrate all our businesses"... The administrators' six-month progress report for Advent Colour revealed a surplus from the recovery of outstanding invoices, meaning unsecured creditors could expect to receive 5p-10p per £1 of debt from the failed Andover printer... Polestar chief executive Barry Hibbert hailed print as being “on the up” after the production of this year’s Christmas TV listings guides. Polestar was able to use its two new 96pp presses for part of the mammoth task, which involved so much print in a short timescale that it also called on rival firms to assist... HH Global confirmed the appointment of former Williams Lea boss Steve Nunn as its new chief executive officer for Europe, the Middle East and Africa... Pureprint established a Bristol office following the recruitment of four staff from EPC Direct, which closed its doors earlier this month. EPC Direct is understood to have stopped production on 5 December, after notifying staff of its imminent closure on 2 December... Holmen Group announced a €60m (£46m) investment to boost production capacity at its subsidiary Iggesund Paperboard's mills in Workington, UK and Iggesund, Sweden. The bulk of the investment (£28m) was targeted at eliminating bottlenecks in pulp production at the Iggesund mill in Sweden... Imprima has been split into two businesses with an MBO team taking over the financial printing side of the operation. The firm’s former owner, Dutch holding company Mercurius Groep, sold the virtual data room side of the company, Imprima iRooms, to OTM Participation... Heidelberg said its purchase of Belgian consumables business BluePrint Products earlier this month was just the start of a "more ambitious phase" of acquisition-led expansion. The German press manufacturer plans to grow its 5% share of the €8bn (£6.3bn) global graphic arts consumables market through acquisition and exclusive partnerships... After leaving KBA in July 2013, former KBA UK managing director Christian Knapp has set up a new distribution business, CMD Insight, located in Toronto, and is targeting the UK with part of his product range... Hampshire-based commercial printer LPC Printing fell into administration and ceased to trade. Administrators from Baker Tilly were appointed to the £4.7m-turnover B2 litho and digital print business on 16 December...