The money will restructure the business, which has been suffering from the downturn in France's printing sector since 2001, having lost a contract to produce France Tlcom telephone directories. The Commission said this had "contributed to the severe contraction in its cash flow".

In the resulting restructure IN will withdraw completely from rotary and sheetfed printing, mail-order catalogues and technical publications. Instead, it will focus on security printing, especially fiduciary printing (it has a protected monopoly for legal documents) and continuous printing markets.

Under the company's plan, its workforce will shrink by two-thirds, to restore profitability by 2008.