De La Rue 1968, but this was rejected by the Monopolies commission as being against the public interest. In 1991 the company's name was changed again – this time to "De La Rue plc". In 1965 De La Rue established a joint venture with the Italian printer and inventor Gualtiero Giori called De La Rue Giori. Based in Switzerland, the company specialized in building banknote printing equipment. The company printed banknotes for the Central Bank of Iran during the 1960s. In 1995, the company acquired Portals Limited which had been listed on the London stock market since 1904. For almost 300 years Portals
Hippolyte De La Rue 1941, with Air Marshal Williams appointed Air Officer Commanding (AOC). Meanwhile, De La Rue also missed out on a potential posting to the Middle East that was suggested by the British but turned down by the Australian government. Promoted acting air commodore, he became the inaugural AOC Western Area, headquartered in Perth, on 9 January 1941. Among the units he controlled in this position were No. 14 (General Reconnaissance) Squadron, No. 25 (General Purpose) Squadron, No. 35 (Transport) Squadron, and No. 77 (Fighter) Squadron. De La Rue worked assiduously to prepare the latter for operations, as it was the only