Money printer and cash counter De La Rue has gone ahead with plans to break itself up and return £460 million to shareholders.

De La Rue is the world's largest banknote printer, producing notes in 150 currencies, as well as other security paper including travellers' cheques and passports.

The company is also involved in cash systems including producing the money-counting machines used in banks and the dispensing mechanisms for cash machines.

De La Rue today sold the cash-systems business for £360 million to Carlyle Group, the controversial Washington DC-based private-equity group that has been regarded as being very close to President Bush's administration.

Carlyle is understood to have beaten off bids from arch-rivals Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, Bain Capital and Warburg Pincus as well as German cash-machines and software group Wincor Nixdorf.

Today's deal will see De La Rue abandon its plans for a £160 million special dividend to shareholders, which it announced last month.

Instead, the company will use the proceeds from the cash-systems sale to launch a return to shareholders of £460 million, which it says is the equivalent of 305p a share. The shares were at 972p today following a 15% surge over the past month.

"The disposal of the cash-systems business in the more uncertain economic environment reflects the quality of the business that we have built since 2004," said De La Rue chairman Nicholas Brookes.