De La Rue to sell international identity solutions business for £42m

Banknote printer De La Rue has agreed to sell its international identity solutions business to Assa Abloy-owned verification specialist HID Corporation for £42m.

Under the terms of the deal, HID will buy De La Rue's international identity solutions contracts, associated software, passport assembly facilities in Malta, and certain printing contracts of security documents such as visas and birth/death/marriage certificates.

The agreement also includes De La Rue providing printing services to HID Global until March 2022, but the UK passport contract is outside the scope of the agreement.

Chief executive Martin Sutherland said: "After assessing all options, we believe that exiting the end to end identity solutions market is the right one for the group and will deliver the most value to shareholders.

"Focusing on the identity-related security features and components is in line with our strategy to transform De La Rue to an asset light and more technology-led business."

In the year to 30 March 2019, the business generated sales of £37.8m and an operating profit of £2.3m.

At 1025 BST, the shares were up 2.5% at 307.50p.