The high-volume production operation, based in Swindon, has been bought by Bristol-based direct mail house, Formpro.

The other half of Stream, which includes low-volume direct mail and database management, will be retained by Triplearc and become part of AccessPlus Marketing Logistics.

According to Triplearc chief executive Jason Cromack (pictured), the deal was made because of tough conditions in the direct mail market and because the firm was not prepared to invest heavily on new equipment for the high-volume division.

Triplearc bought Stream in January last year from HFS, headed up by Angus Steel and Mark Scanlon, in an 8.64m deal.

The terms of the deal included an "earn out" element of up to 8m, depending on the performance of the business to December 2006. The earn out has now been settled early.

In the year ended 31 December 2005, Stream's high-volume division had net current liabilities of around 900,000.