De La Rue accepts GBP263 million bid by US private equity firm, Atlas

(Alliance News) - De La Rue PLC on Tuesday accepted a takeover offer from US private equity firm Atlas Holdings LLC, signalling an end to its near 80-year run on the London stock market.

The Basingstoke-based firm, which prints banknotes for the Bank of England and other central banks across the world, said the GBP263 million cash offer is worth 130 pence per share.

In response, shares in De La Rue rose 16% to 130.00 pence each, above the offer price from Atlas.

In February, De La Rue said it had started a formal sale process after receiving approaches from separate third parties.

In January, the firm said Disruptive Capital GP Ltd and Pension SuperFund Capital had offered to buy the company for 125p per share. In February, the company said it had also received preliminary approaches from separate third parties.

On Tuesday, De La Rue said it had "carefully reviewed" a number of other proposals with its advisers and "unanimously concluded" that the Atlas acquisition achieves the "critical objective of delivering an outcome that satisfactorily address the interests of all stakeholders."

De La Rue Chief Executive Clive Vacher said: "Atlas is the right partner to take De La Rue into its next phase of growth. Most importantly, under Atlas's ownership we can ensure long-term stability for our customers and our people, and best position the business for its next chapter."

Greenwich, Connecticut-based Atlas focuses on acquiring companies in sectors including industrial services, automotive, metals and energy.

Among the businesses it owns in Europe are London-based graphic and creative services agency ASG and British construction services group, Bovis.

Atlas said it believes that the acquisition of De La Rue represents an "attractive opportunity" to build on its portfolio of manufacturing and key infrastructure businesses.

Atlas said it has entered into a memorandum of understanding with the Pension Trustee of De La Rue to provide protection to the members of the DLR DB Pension Scheme, while giving De La Rue the ability to operate its business outside of its current capital constraints.

Atlas said it has received irrevocable undertakings from investors representing 40% of De La Rue's shares. This includes the backing of Aberforth Partners LLP which speaks for 11% of De La Rue stock.

De La Rue, founded in 1821, made its London stock market debut in 1947.

The acquisition is currently expected to be completed during the third quarter of 2025.

By Jeremy Cutler, Alliance News reporter

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