A regional daily’s publisher has bought a packaging company as part of its bid to prolong the lifespan of its newspapers.

Mediahuis Ireland, which owns the Belfast Telegraph along with a number of titles in the Republic of Ireland, has announced the acquisition of Paramount Packaging Ltd, a supplier of food, industrial, luxury and pharmaceutical packaging products.

The company says the deal is in line with its strategy to “support its news wholesale business thereby protecting a route to market for its print publishing titles”.

The acquisition has been made through Mediahuis subsidiary Reach Group, a logistics firm not affiliated with London-based newspaper publisher Reach plc.

Peter Vandermeersch, chief executive of Mediahuis Ireland, said: “This acquisition is evidence of our continued commitment to diversifying our wholesale division, to support the distribution of our print products to the widest possible audience for the longest possible time.

“By combining Reach’s extensive logistics infrastructure and customer base with Paramount’s excellent track record in design, sourcing and delivery of packaging products, we’re confident we can capitalise on potential synergies between the organisations and generate significant additional resources to prolong the lifespan of our market-leading print publishing titles.”

James Kavanagh, CEO of Paramount, added: “We’re delighted to have joined forces with Reach as it gives us access to their wide customer base and extensive distribution network which will add great value to the Paramount business.

“I look forward to working closely with the team at Reach to ensure a smooth transition of the business and to helping Paramount customers avail of the greater range of products we can now offer through Reach.”