Bank of England banknote printer De La Rue has agreed to sell an arm of its business to an American firm for £300m. The London-listed company announced this morning that it had entered into a definitive agreement for the sale of the group’s authentication arm to Crane NXT,

Crane NXT, the New York-listed industrial technology company, was on Monday night finalising a takeover of De La Rue's authentication division, Sky News learns.

De La Rue Plc shares surged in London trading after the beleaguered British banknote printer agreed to sell its authentication arm to Crane NXT Co. of the US, precipitating a breakup that will shrink its debt pile and ease its pension deficit.