The directory firm, which is said to be among Europe's top five directories companies in terms of revenue, serves nearly 700,000 customers in markets such as the Netherlands, Finland, Denmark, Sweden and Poland.

The directories will be printed across a variety of sites including Denmark, Poland and at RR Donnelley's Flaxby Moor division in North Yorkshire.

RR Donnelley chief operating officer John Paloian said the deal would allow the printer to "present our customers with exceptional service, quality, and value" and expand the firm's relationship with European Directories.

European Directories chief financial officer Stuart Ross added that RR Donnelley has "consistently demonstrated an understanding of our business" while the printer helping "us to achieve our goals for speed-to-market.".

He told printweek.com that "we've worked with RR Donnelley for many years" and following a tender, which involved five companies, its was the firm's "technical ability" which secured the deal.

European Directories' stable includes De Telefoongids, which holds a 56% market share in the Netherlands and a circulation of more than 8m over 45 regional editions.

The Herold holds an 80% of the Austrian market and has a total circulation of 6.3 m copies.

The combined revenues for the European Directories Group was in excess of £481.8m (€645m) during 2006.

European Directories chief financial officer Stuart Ross said RR Donnelley had "consistently demonstrated an understanding of our business" while its flexibility "helps us to achieve our goals for speed-to-market".