The early skirmishes in the battle for De la Rue Plc commenced on Friday as Scitex Inc, where Robert Maxwell is chairman, announced that it held 15.7% of de la Rue and that it wanted to enter into discussions if the company will provide Scitex with the same information given to the other parties that have been negotiating a joint venture with De la Rue on its Crosfield Electronics subsidiary; most of the 15.5% stake is thought to have come from Maxwell, and with Carlo de Benedetti also a substantial shareholder the news sent De la Rue shares soaring 55 pence to 389p.
