Midlands Publishing Group has reached heads of agreement to buy Beshara Press, the commercial printer with sites in Tewkesbury and Nottingham.


The firm was the subject of a "for sale" advert in the Financial Times last month (PrintWeek, 8 June) after owner Hugh Tollemache decided to sell.


Beshara specialises in perfect bound and saddlestitched products and is expanding into the catalogue and short-run magazine sectors. In June it installed a four-back-four Mitsubishi 3FR perfecting press.


The firm made pre-tax profits of 108,000 on sales of 8.3m for the year to 30 June 2000.


Beshara group chief executive Dr John Horrocks will stay at the helm if the deal is concluded, said Midlands chief Nicholas Humes.


Midlands Publishing has also been involved in negotiations to buy Century Litho (Truro) and has set a deadline of 31 July to tie up that deal (PrintWeek, 13 July).