PRIME ACTIVE Capital said yesterday that it has been approached by a potential buyer for its printing business Bell Bain.

In a statement released alongside 2008 results for the company, which is listed in Dublin and London, the group said its printing business had come under margin pressure, particularly in the second half of last year, as the recession began to hit customers’ budgets.

It noted that three of Bell Bain’s direct competitors had gone into administration in the last year.

Bell Bain provides specialist books and journals to academic publishers. The company also said that capital investment in Bell Bain over the last two years had improved the business’s positioning and had protected it from a significant cyclical downturn in the print sector in the UK.

“We have been approached by a potential buyer for this business and discussions are ongoing,” chairman Peter Lynch said in a statement.

His remarks came as the company disclosed pretax losses of €12 million for 2008, compared with €2.65 million a year previously. Turnover of €33.78 million was down just €1 million from 2007.

Bell Bain, which along with Top Cop printing group, represented approximately one-third of the company’s revenue last year, registered an operating loss of €94,000 for 2008.

Last year, Prime Active sold its plastic card services unit for approximately €11 million and over the past year has been investing significantly in the mobile-phone retail industry in the US.