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maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 16 OCTOBER 2024
NEWS
MATTHEW
VELLA
mvella@mediatoday.com.mt
De La Rue to sell authentication business
to rival Crane for €358 million
CURRENCY printer De La Rue will
sell its authentication business for
€358 million (£300 million), includ-
ing debt, to its U.S. rival Crane NXT.
Since its announcement, its share
price soared 15% on Tuesday. The
British banknote printer, whose
factory is in Malta, is also talks with
parties over the sale of its banknote
design and printing arm, CEO Clive
Vacher told Reuters.
The authentication arm designs
and makes secure documents, tax
stamps and other security features
to authenticate goods. It counts
government and tax authorities as
major customers. De La Rue designs
around a third of the world's bank-
notes.
Crane Currency also has a plant in
Malta.
De La Rue said the sale of the au-
thentication business would help
the London-listed firm fix its bal-
ance sheet by cutting debt and re-
ducing its pension deficit, a legacy
issue that has been detrimental to
its performance.
De La Rue said it has agreed with
its pension trustee to pay £30 mil-
lion into the scheme on completion
of the sale and an additional £12.5
million in deficit repair contribu-
tions over the period to April 2027.
De La Rue's remaining curren-
cy business, which is recovering
from a downturn in cash demand
post-pandemic, will use the money
to restore cash flow.
