Communisis said the acquisition of Life, which generated adjusted EBITDA of £1m on turnover of £7m (£4.6m excluding recharged third-party costs) in the year to 31 December 2013, offered "considerable scope for growth".

Communisis chief executive Andy Blundell said: "Life has an excellent reputation in shopper marketing. It brings new capability to Communisis, broadening our agency proposition and complementing the brand deployment services offered to our growing number of consumer goods clients.

"This acquisition will benefit our fastest growing and higher margin business segments."

The acquisition, which is the largest for Communisis' current management team – topping the £12.6m paid for Absolute Intrinsic in 2008 – is expected to provide "opportunities for revenue synergies both within the group's existing client portfolio and throught the cross-selling of other marketing services".

Life, which employs 63 staff at its offices in Birmingham and London and serves clients in the food, drinks, technology and pharmaceutical sectors, will extend the range of services offered by Communisis' Design and Deploy segements.

Life founders and joint managing directors Ian Humphris and David Poole have joined Communisis in "senior executive roles".

The deal includes an initial £14m payment, comprised of a £9.3m two-year bank guaranteed promissory note, £700,000 cash and £4m in new ordinary shares in Communisis, plus up to £9.3m in performance-related consideration.

This additional consideration will be payable on the basis of Life's financial performance in 2015 and 2016, including its average EBITDA, and the contribution from defined synergies realised up to the end of 2017.

Communisis' share price has been largely unaffected by the acquisition, with shares currently trading at 49p versus the 51p when the deal was announced on 23 December.