De La Rue names Cobbold chief executive

13th Dec 2010 07:44

Bid target De La Rue has named Tim Cobbold as chief executive with effect from 1 January 2011. The banknote printer said Cobbold, currently CEO at Chloride Group, has over twenty years of international management experience in manufacturing industries. The appointment follows months of turmoil at the group. Back in July, De La Rue warned sales would be materially below expectations due to quality and production irregularities at one of its paper production facilities. Chief executive James Hussey resigned after revelations that paper production at the firm had failed to meet certain quality specifications.Last week, De la Rue rejected a reported 905p per share approach from French group Oberthur saying it in no way reflected the fundamental value of the company. Commenting on today's appointment, Nicholas Brookes, who will resume his position as non-executive chairman said, "Cobbold's experience... will be invaluable to De La Rue both in the short term as we work to resolve current uncertainties and in the longer term as we continue to build our global brand and international customer base."As previously announced Colin Child will revert to his finance director role once Cobbold joins the company.