Compactifications of discrete quantum groups

Given a discrete quantum group (A, delta) we construct a Hopf *-algebra AP which is a unital *-subalgebra of the multiplier algebra of A. The structure maps for AP are inherited from M( A) and thus the construction yields a compactification of (A, delta i) which is analogous to the Bohr compactification of a locally compact group. This algebra has the expected universal property with respect to homomorphisms from multiplier Hopf algebras of compact type (and is therefore unique). This provides an easy proof of the fact that for a discrete quantum group with an infinite dimensional algebra the multiplier algebra is never a Hopf algebra.