Media speculation this morning (6 December 2010) forced the company to confirm that it had received a "highly preliminary and opportunistic approach" from an unnamed rival, believed to be French company Oberthur.
The bid, believed to be around £750m, is some 17% above the company's £640m stock market valuation based on Friday's close of trading. However, De La Rue's shares are still recovering from a torrid year plagued by production issues.
Even so, shares in De La Rue had already risen around 19% on the news this morning to 768.5p on the London Stock Exchange.
The company said in a statement: "There is no certainty that this highly preliminary approach will lead to an offer." It added that further announcements would be made "as and when appropriate", but De La Rue is expected to reject the bid.
Unite has been quick to condemn any plans to accept a foreign takeove assistant general secretary Tony Burke said that De La Rue was a "golden asset" of the UK.
He said: "It would be unacceptable for the main producer of UK banknotes and passports to be owned outside of the UK, it is the Bank of England's print works.
"It has been a traumatic year and no doubt this offer will create some concern within the workforce. Simply, it should not be allowed to be sold."
De La Rue has been through a traumatic 2010. It was hit with quality issues in the summer, which eventually led to the departure of its chief executive James Hussey.
Ultimately, employees were blamed for the fiasco, which it claimed would have a £35m hit on profits in the first half of the year.
