De La Rue on March 2005 Sequoia was sold to Smartmatic, a multi-national technology company which had developed advanced election systems, voting machines included. In 2003, the company acquired the Debden-based banknote printing operations of the Bank of England. In 2003 and 2004 the company supplied banknotes to Iraq. The company was recognised by Hermann Simon as a role model for other small- to medium-sized businesses in his book "Hidden Champions". The Highest Perfection, a history of De La Rue was published in 2011. Written by Peter Pugh for De La Rue, it covered the years 1712–2003. In August 2014, the company announced
Hippolyte De La Rue was in any case abandoned soon after, as Australia concentrated on participation in the Empire Air Training Scheme. Some time in the latter half of 1940, De La Rue was seeing dinner guests off the base at RAAF Richmond, and attempted to re-enter the perimeter via the main gate. Wearing civilian clothes and without his security pass, he was challenged and then locked up by the guards, who did not recognise him or believe his assurances that he was their commander. De La Rue was finally released by the orderly officer but was still fuming the next morning; only the