De La Rue hit as Oberthur rules out bid
BANKNOTE printer De La Rue saw more than £20m wiped off its market value yesterday after its rival, smartcard maker Oberthur Technologies, asserted that it would not be making another bid for the firm.
But in a sign that it still has its eye on the troubled printer, Oberthur also announced that it has snapped up De La Rue’s former chief executive James Hussey as an adviser to its chairman.
Speculation had mounted that Oberthur could be preparing for another takeover offer following its failed bid in February. That could have seen the firm raise capital and come back to buy its rival in July, once the six-month period prohibiting a new offer had run out.
But Oberthur chief executive Thomas Savarre yesterday squashed hopes that he could return to the fray so soon. “Following recent press and analyst speculation, we want to clarify, without any reservation, that we have no intention of making an offer for De La Rue,” he said.
His recruitment of Hussey, however, will be taken as a sign that Oberthur is preparing a more long-term strategy to take over its rival. Oberthur, which is privately owned by the Savarre family, mounted an aggressive campaign to persuade De La Rue shareholders to sell earlier this year, including an announcement that the firm had lost a major client – the Reserve Bank of India – and criticism of its management for not informing the market.
De La Rue rejected the bid out of hand and said that the contract with the client is still under negotiation after its suspension following printing problems at a factory last year.
The spat, which saw Oberthur raise its offer from £896m to £926m, marked Oberthur’s second attempt to buy its rival. But with De La Rue’s new chief executive, Tim Cobbold, just six months into the job and promising a recovery, some see a new bid as premature.
De La Rue’s shares closed 2.6 per cent lower at 800.9p.