Adare Printing Group has acquired Printronic International, a computing bureau serving the UK direct marketing industry, for an undisclosed sum. The figure involved is likely to have been less than £3 million.

The acquisition, Adare said, would make it one of the leading providers of outsourced data management and direct mail services to consumer and business-to-business marketers.

Adare's chief executive, Mr Nelson Loane, said the group intended to invest in the company. Based in Wimbledon, London, Printronic is said to be one of the pioneers of marketing data management in the UK.

It employs 85 people and in 1998 had sales of £5.6 million and an operating profit of £348,000. Its client list includes Abbey National, RBS Advanta, Weight Watchers.