Kenyan Government Okays Acquisition of De La Rue After Completing Deal To Print New Currency

The Kenyan Government has approved the acquisition of British security currency printer De la Rue by American firm HID Corporation Ltd which will take up take up 100 percent of the firm’s issued share capital.

Competition Authority of Kenya Director-General Wang’ombe Kariuki confirmed that Kenya had authorized the proposed transaction after the British firm had honored the contract it had signed with the government.”

One of the agreements it had with the government is to print Kenya’s new series of notes under an Sh11 billion three-year contract it had with the Central Bank of Kenya.

“The government has authorized the proposed transaction as set out herein on condition that existing contracts the target (De La Rue Kenya Ltd) has with the government were honored,” the firm said.

The firm had also entered into an agreement with the government to print cheque books and passports, debit and credit cards for banks and security documents for financial institutions.

The acquisition bid of the British firm began in June when it announced plans to sell its International Identity Solutions business (‘International ID’) to HID Corporation Ltd at a deal valued at Sh5.3 billion on a cash-free, debt-free basis, payable upon completion.

“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,” De La Rue’s chief executive Martin Sutherland said.

Nonetheless, the British firm is being investigated by the UK’s serious Fraud Office over corruption allegations in South Sudan.

The Multinational is on the spot over claims that it bribed the Bank of South Sudan and senior Juba administration officials to have its contract renewed despite the fact that American firm Crane Currency had also been awarded the same contract.

Featured Image Courtesy: Capitalfm.co.ke