Adare Printing, which is considering a bid from its chief executive, Mr Nelson Loane, has announced the sale of the business of UK-based Platignum to Universal Writing Instruments for an undisclosed sum.

Adare bought Platignum, which owns the well-known Platignum pen brand name and Ivy self-adhesive labels, for £1.35 million (€1.7 million) less than three years ago. At the time of the purchase, Platignum was generating operating profits of some £200,000. These profits have sharply declined, and the consideration was less than £1 million, according to sources. Following the withdrawal of an MBO proposal by Adare's finance director, Mr Peter Lynch, earlier this month, the rival proposal by Mr Loane is now subject to the due-diligence process. This is expected to take two to three weeks. Mr Loane is backed by venture capitalists Allen McGuire. Adare's results are expected shortly.