Bright Print Group has tightened its grip on the Newcastle region after rescuing insolvent firm Print National.

The 35-staff regional printer was part of a group of companies that collapsed in August under more than $20 million of debt. Deloitte was appointed receiver of Print National on 28 August, with RSM Bird Cameron then appointed administrator on 24 October.

RSM partner Peter Marsden told ProPrint that Print National's known debts exceeded $8.6 million, with $8.1 million owed to unsecured creditors and $513,000 owed to staff.

Deloitte restructuring partner Neil Cussen told ProPrint that Bright had acquired Print National's business assets.

"That includes plant and equipment and customer lists and the whole business," he said. Print National's debt was not part of the deal, he added.

Cussen also said that Bright had made offers of employment to 10 staff, six of which were accepted.

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"It's always a good option to be able to sell a business and have the business be preserved and continue to operate by a new entity," he said.

"We received about 35 [expressions of interest], of which about 15 were serious and 20 were for other parts of the business or were lower expressions of interest."

Print National is based in Lisarow, which is just north of Gosford and about 80km south of Newcastle. This is Bright Print's second acquisition in the region after it bought Newcastle Camera Print in 2011.

Bright Print director Debbie Burgess said the Print National acquisition "fits with our existing footprint".

"I think the acquisition just strengthens our ability to service the Newcastle market," she told ProPrint.

"We've picked up a number of pieces of equipment that we didn't have, which provides us with greater versatility, particularly in the finishing areas.

"They had a number of loyal customers, particularly in the Sydney market, which we're hoping to be able to build upon in the coming months."

Burgess said Print National would retain its name for now and that some of its clients would be serviced by Bright Print's Sydney headquarters. The group has more than 100 staff, she added.

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