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De La Rue, the UK banknote maker, has agreed to a takeover by investment group Atlas Holdings in a deal that values the group at £263mn, marking the exit of another established British company from the London stock market.
The all-cash offer from US-based Atlas, which focuses on investing in the manufacturing sector, ends months of uncertainty over the future of De La Rue on the public markets.
The group had been approached in January about a £245mn cash bid from a consortium of companies owned by City financier Edi Truell.
Atlas’s 130p a share cash offer represents a premium of 19 per cent to the company’s closing price on December 11, the day before the offers for the company kicked off.
De La Rue said on Tuesday that its directors “intend to recommend unanimously” that shareholders vote to accept the deal.
De La Rue, whose business consists of currency and authentication operations, has been under pressure since losing a major government contract in 2018 to manufacture British passports. The company launched a turnaround plan in 2020 aimed at improving its financial footing.
Clive Vacher, chief executive, said in an interview that Atlas would bring financial backing to help De La Rue grow, including to help it capitalise on banknotes moving from paper to polymer.
Atlas “can bring more resources to the table to help accelerate and increase that investment in technology”, he said.
Atlas said about 40 per cent of De La Rue’s shareholders had given either irrevocable undertakings to vote in favour of the deal or sent a letter of intent signalling they would do so.
“I don’t anticipate that we will go back to being listed anytime in the foreseeable future,” Vacher said.
The more than 200-year-old De La Rue launched a formal sale process in early February, having previously considered a number of proposals, including Truell’s.
In October last year, De La Rue announced the sale of its authentication business to Crane NXT for an enterprise value of £300mn. The proceeds from the deal, which is due to complete next month, will be used to repay the company’s revolving credit facility.
The takeover deal, which is subject to shareholder and regulatory approval, is expected to be completed in the third quarter of 2025, De La Rue said.
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