De La Rue had been regarded as the leading banknote paper manufacturer in the world, having manufactured banknote paper for the Bank of England since 1724. In 1997, De La Rue acquired Harrison and Sons, the stamp and banknote printers based in High Wycombe. The factory closed permanently in 2003. In early 2002, De La Rue took over ownership from Smurfit Diamond Packaging Corporation of Sequoia Voting Systems, a California-based company that was a large provider of electronic voting systems in the U.S., for U.S. $23 million. After losing money for three years in a business way out of the company's traditional lines,
De La Rue postage stamps for the United Kingdom and some of its colonies, for Italy and for the Confederate States of America. Some famous stamps such as the Cape of Good Hope triangulars were printed by De La Rue & Co. after Perkins Bacon fell out of favour with the postal authorities of the time. The first 50 years of postage stamp production were chronicled in John Easton's "The De La Rue History of British and Foreign Postage Stamps 1855–1901" (Faber & Faber, London, 1958). De La Rue claims to have developed the first practical fountain pen in 1881 and was a