The two Japanese manufacturers announced that they were considering an alliance at the beginning of the year.

The new business, to be called Ryobi MHI Graphic Technology, will have a 60:40 ownership split with Ryobi having the majority stake.

It will have 450 employees and be headquartered in Hiroshima, Japan, with operations set to commence on 1 January 2014.

The expected turnover of Ryobi MHI Graphic Technology in 2014 will be in the region of ¥30bn (£200m), with a pre tax profit of ¥1.5bn.

The move was brought about with the intention of improving competitiveness for the two firms by exploiting the synergies between their operations, in the face of shrinking demand for conventional printing presses and the damaging fall-out of the economic downturn.

In a statement confirming the plans for the joint venture, Ryobi and Mitsubishi also sounded an optimistic note about the future potential for the merged operation, and said: "The commercial printing industry presently anticipates demand for printing machinery to strengthen in the emerging economies. Simultaneously demand for higher specification products is expected to grow further within the mature economies."

Sales and service arrangements will differ from country-to-country, and Apex Digital Graphics managing director Bob Usher moved quickly to reassure Ryobi customers here in the UK, where Ryobi has a large installed base of SRA3 format presses, in particular. 

"Ryobi has informed us that there is no intention to change its current sales and service structure in the UK for the foreseeable future," Usher said.

Murray Lock, managing director at Mitsubishi distributor M Partners said: "Now the deal has actually been agreed, we’ll keep everyone informed as and when we know more."