Both sites, BGP in Bicester and Stones the Printers in Banbury, will continue according to the KPMG announcement.

Earlier this month PrintWeek revealed that Goodhead owner Sir John Madejski had put the business up for sale, with Polestar subsequently emerging as the most likely purchaser.

After the deal was finally confirmed this afternoon, Polestar issued a statement in which chief executive Barry Hibbert said he was "delighted" to add the firepower and capabilities of BGP and Stones to Polestar. "While some changes will be inevitable, it is our intention to continue with the businesses in their current form," he stated.

Hibbert told PrintWeek he was bound by a confidentiality agreement "and would not be able to add anything beyond the press release for some time".

Goodhead's unsecured creditors will need to deal with the joint administrators at KPMG.

The liability for Goodhead’s defined benefit pension scheme, which had a deficit of at least £10.3m, will now pass to the Pension Protection Fund (PPF). Polestar’s former scheme is already in the PPF, after the pre-pack of the Polestar business last year when it was acquired by Sun.

It has also emerged that Goodhead employees did not receive their November wages on Monday, but it is understood they will be paid now the deal has completed.

It also appears that Goodhead owner Sir John Madejski will effectively write-off his £100m investment in the business.

A source close to the situation said: "Sir John is really upset about it, he’s failed." Previously, Madejski had been adamant that he would not sell the business to Polestar.

The buy means Polestar can immediately augment its own ageing web offset facilities with a ready-made web offset supersite at BGP, including four of the newest 72pp Manroland Lithoman presses in the country.

Speculation has immediately turned to which of the existing Polestar sites will be closed first as a result of the acquisition, as consolidation of its web offset manufacturing base appears inevitable. Colchester, which was threatened with closure at the beginning of the year prior to the workforce accepting a pay cut and longer working week, is seen as a likely casualty.

Former BGP sales director Bob Caley has recently moved from Polestar Chromoworks to Colchester as managing director, while former Colchester boss Jim Algar is understood to have taken on a group role.

Immediate industry reaction to the much-anticipated news included a positive response from rival web offset printer Wyndeham Group, itself mooted as a potential purchaser of Goodhead’s assets in the early stages of the sale process.

In a statement, Mark Scanlon, chairman of Wyndeham owner Walstead Investments, said he welcomed the news: "There are lessons for us all in the demise of Goodhead: for investors, printers, customers and workforce. You cannot survive in any industry unless you charge a sensible price for the work produced.

"We have been warning for some time that chasing unprofitable volume to fill surplus capacity created by inopportune investment would only end in disaster. Now it has. Goodhead’s sudden collapse demonstrates that in the end the economics of profit and loss will prevail," Scanlon stated.

Goodhead Group, which comprises BGP, Stones the Printers in Banbury, and BGP’s binding operation in Buckingham, posted a £4.7m pre-tax loss on sales of £67.8m in the year to 31 May 2012. Cumulative losses at the business over the past five years, since plans for an ambitious web offset supersite at Bicester were implemented by then-chief executive David Holland, run to £64.9m.