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US Buyout Firm Offers £263m for Banknote Printer De La Rue
The Guardian
|April 16, 2025
A bidding war could be heating up for De La Rue, the 200-year-old British firm that prints banknotes for the Bank of England, after its board recommended an all-cash offer from the US buyout firm Atlas Holdings.
De La Rue's shares climbed by as much as 17% yesterday after the company released a statement to investors saying that its board had recommended shareholders accept Atlas's offer of 130p a share, which valued the company at £263m.
The all-cash takeover bid was at a 16% premium to De La Rue's closing price on Monday, which the company board described as "fair and reasonable".
The City financier Edi Truell, however, is reportedly considering a higher offer of 132.17p a share, which could trigger a bidding war.
Investment funds controlled by Truell, a pensions and private equity entrepreneur, have made the proposal to De La Rue, as first reported by Sky News.
The company said it had not received a firm offer from Truell, and released a further statement later yesterday reaffirming its recommendation of the Atlas offer.
This story is from the April 16, 2025 edition of The Guardian.
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