The deal was completed yesterday (1 May), after £40.4m turnover Service Point UK was placed into administration with Ernst & Young a week ago.
Paragon Group had emerged as the likely buyer for the business.
In a statement issued this morning, Service Point managing director Michael Barton-Harvey said: “We have worked relentlessly with all parties involved in the sales process to ensure every avenue was explored to achieve the best possible outcome to the situation.
“This acquisition marks a new chapter for our business and will allow us to continue providing excellent service to our national client base, while strengthening our proposition.”
The deal takes £141m turnover Paragon Group into a new area, due to Service Point’s localised production model and network of 27 branches, and the two operations were described as having “complementary strengths.”
The Service Point buy means that more than 400 jobs have been saved across Service Point’s nationwide operations, but the situation for the firm’s trade creditors appears less rosy.
One print supplier owed money said: “I fear we won’t be paid. I actually feel sorry for the people in the branches, they’re embarrassed about it. But it’s a poor show and infuriating for people like us.”
Neither Ernst & Young nor Paragon Group was available for comment on further details of the deal at the time of writing.
The situation regarding international financial print wing Chris Fowler International is unclear. It was acquired by Service Point's Spanish parent in 2008 but came under the umbrella of the UK business.
Service Point UK’s pension scheme, which had a £9.3m deficit in the company’s most recent accounts, appears likely to end up in the Pension Protection Fund.
Paragon has made a string of significant acquisitions over the past five years by buying businesses out of administration.
It acquired Manchester’s Ward Knowles in the summer of 2009, Derby’s Bemrose Booth in July 2010, Wright Printing Services of Rotherham the following year and it most recently acquired Yorkshire stationery printer Horner Brothers in a pre-pack deal last summer.
