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6 December 2010
Last updated at 03:00 ET
UK bank note printer De La Rue has confirmed that it has received a takeover approach, but has not named the interested party.
It follows reports that French rival Oberthur had offered £750m ($1.2bn) in cash for the troubled company.
The firm said there is no certainty the "highly preliminary and opportunistic" approach will lead to an offer.
Shares in De La Rue have fallen more than 30% since it revealed production problems at one of its plants in July.
If media reports are correct, the Oberthur offer would value the UK-listed company some 17% above its £640m stock market valuation as of Friday's close of trading.
De La Rue said in its statement that it would make a further announcement "as and when appropriate". The company had been expected to announce its rejection of the offer.
'Materially lower' De La Rue has been thrown into turmoil since identifying a production fault at its Overton factory in July, prompting its chief executive to quit.
The errors are thought to have cost the company its business with the Reserve Bank of India, one of its biggest clients.
Continue reading the main story The company has been without a head since the resignation of James Hussey in August, after the firm admitting that 2010-11 paper production and sales would be "materially lower" as a result of the production errors.
Mr Hussey's replacement is expected to be Tim Cobbold, previously the head of business power company Chloride Group.
The problems came to light shortly after De La Rue signed a five-year extension to its exclusive contract to print the UK's banknotes for the Bank of England.
Two weeks ago, the company confirmed that pre-tax profits before exceptional items had more than halved to £23.8m, while sales fell 17% to £209.2m, in the last six months.
De La Rue, founded in 1813, prints notes for the Bank of England and 150 other countries.
Oberthur Technologies was formed in 1984 by its majority-owner and chief executive, Jean-Pierre Savare, when he took over the secure printing activity of the Oberthur printing works, which was originally founded in 1842.
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It follows reports that French rival Oberthur had offered £750m ($1.2bn) in cash for the troubled company.
The firm said there is no certainty the "highly preliminary and opportunistic" approach will lead to an offer.
Shares in De La Rue have fallen more than 30% since it revealed production problems at one of its plants in July.
If media reports are correct, the Oberthur offer would value the UK-listed company some 17% above its £640m stock market valuation as of Friday's close of trading.
De La Rue said in its statement that it would make a further announcement "as and when appropriate". The company had been expected to announce its rejection of the offer.
'Materially lower' De La Rue has been thrown into turmoil since identifying a production fault at its Overton factory in July, prompting its chief executive to quit.
The errors are thought to have cost the company its business with the Reserve Bank of India, one of its biggest clients.
Continue reading the main story The company has been without a head since the resignation of James Hussey in August, after the firm admitting that 2010-11 paper production and sales would be "materially lower" as a result of the production errors.
Mr Hussey's replacement is expected to be Tim Cobbold, previously the head of business power company Chloride Group.
The problems came to light shortly after De La Rue signed a five-year extension to its exclusive contract to print the UK's banknotes for the Bank of England.
Two weeks ago, the company confirmed that pre-tax profits before exceptional items had more than halved to £23.8m, while sales fell 17% to £209.2m, in the last six months.
De La Rue, founded in 1813, prints notes for the Bank of England and 150 other countries.
Oberthur Technologies was formed in 1984 by its majority-owner and chief executive, Jean-Pierre Savare, when he took over the secure printing activity of the Oberthur printing works, which was originally founded in 1842.
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