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
Rue de la Harpe Neuve Mâcon"" or ""rue de l'Abreuvoir Mâcon"" (1401), ""rue de l'Abreuvoir Mâcon"" or ""rue Neuve Saint-Michel"" (1409), ""rue Neuve du pont Saint-Michel"" or ""de la Bouclerie"" (1406), ""rue de la Grant Bouclerie"" (1405), ""rue Neuve Saint-Michel"" (1469) and ""rue de la Vielle Bouclerie"". In 1800, Joseph Fouché, the Parisian chief of police, supposedly documented a series of murders undertaken by a barber and baker on this street. They are often cited as the first serial killers, and also it is argued that the pair were a significant influence in the famous story of the barber Sweeney Todd of Fleet Street,