Shares in De La Rue PLC (LSE:DLAR) surged 16% on Tuesday amid reports that US private equity firm Atlas Holdings is closing in on a £130-per-share offer for the 212-year-old banknote printer.
The deal would mark a historic shift for De La Rue, which has been listed in London since 1947, taking it into private ownership for the first time.
The bid follows months of speculation and a formal sale process that reportedly attracted multiple suitors.
Atlas’s offer is said to exclude De La Rue’s authentication division, which is being sold separately to Crane NXT for £300 million. That cash is earmarked to reduce debt and pension obligations.
The group has struggled in recent years with profit warnings, operational issues and pension pressures, but a recent recovery in its share price and renewed interest in its core currency-printing business have helped put it back on firmer footing.
The stock was up 18p at 130p.
According to a recent report from Peel Hunt, UK small- and mid-caps caps are being picked off quietly and steadily by opportunistic bidders. What’s left risks shrinking further.