JOHN Watson and Company, the Glasgow-based printing business that designs and supplies labels and packaging to the Scotch whisky industry, has been sold to US giant Multi-Color Corporation (MCC).

The acquisition, described by chairman John Watson as a serious multi-million pound deal, comes less than six months after it walked away from its proposed sale to Canadian company CCL.

The deal to buy the company, whose clients include Diageo, Pernod Ricard, Edrington, Burn Stewart Distillers and Morrison Bowmore, brings to an end the Watson family's control of the business they established in 1824.

Mr Watson, who will retire from the company he joined 48 years ago, said it was a superb good news story to leave the business with a deal that protects its 80-strong workforce.

And he is confident the new owner, which employs more than 3000 staff in 28 sites around the world, will lead the company to further growth, explaining that its biggest clients are looking to work with printers who can operate on a worldwide scale.

Although two of his four sons work in the business, Mr Watson said that, with his eldest just 25, they are too young to take the company forward. He said they also want to try other working experiences.

Port Dundas-based John Watson has joined a global printing organisation that turns over more than £720m. MCC operates sites in North America, South America, Asia and Australia and Europe, including one in Clydebank.

The site, acquired when MCC took over Scottish company Labelgraphics, produces pressure sensitive labels. Its operation is said to "dovetail" that of John Watson's.

Asked why he had done a deal with MCC and not CCL, which came close to buying John Watson earlier this year, Mr Watson said the Ohio-based firm was a better fit.

He said: "People said, in times of a recession you must be off your head to have walked away from a multi-million deal. But when you have been with a company for 48 years it is the fit of the business, where it fits together [that matters]. And I just feel with it fits well with Multi-Color Corporation. I think they are a terrific organisation."

Mr Watson admitted it will be emotional to cut ties with the business. But having witnessed the printing industry undergo more change in the last 48 years than it saw in the previous 500, he stated: "It is amazing what has happened in the industry. I do not want to push my luck any further than this.

"MCC have deep pockets. They have investors. The last spend for me was £2.2m for a press. That is getting a bit rich."

Nigel Vinecome, chief executive of MCC, said: "We have always admired John Watson and Company and its world-class excellence, particularly its expertise in delivering the finest quality labels for the global drinks industry.

"The right management and production team are in place in Glasgow and John Watson and Company has the enviable reputation of being at the top of the vendor rating schedules for all the major whisky accounts they already hold. This is a benchmark industry standard for reliability and excellence.

"When the opportunity arose we travelled to Scotland to meet with John Watson and his management team and were able to conclude a deal."

The John Watson business will remain based in Port Dundas for at least three years following a commitment given by MCC to lease the premises. It is not clear whether the John Watson name will ultimately disappear as the business is integrated by the new owner.