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Oberthur backs off De La Rue bid
Oberthur has given up its acquisition efforts towards banknote printer De La Rue, after the French firm's latest bid was snubbed.
Over the weekend, the Parisian firm raised its offer from 905p to 935p per share, but drew no interest from the De La Rue management board.
The banknote printer, which prints notes for the Bank of England and 150 other countries, rejected the offer amounting to £926 million, saying that it was an inadequate valuation of the firm.
De La Rue, which faced production problems over a key customer earlier in the year, saw a 15% dip in share rates after Oberthur retracted the offer.
Its shares now stand 10% lower than when the production problems set in, which ended in chief executive James Hussey's resignation and a loss of £35 million for the firm to date.
The 170-year-old Oberthur has asked De La Rue to clarify the details regarding the problem, which is believed to involve production issues the Reserve Bank of India.
De La Rue said in November that volumes would be hit by 20% this year, after the production problems led to suspension of production and shipment of the affected banknote for two months, though its impact on full-year accounts has not been estimated.
Copyright © Press Association 2011
