The German government has decided to renationalise the debt-ridden Bundesdruckerei, printer of the country's banknotes, passports and ID cards.
The Federal Printing Office was privatised eight years ago by then-chancellor Gerhard Schröder's government, to a British-US private equity group. The firm, which also makes ID documents and banknotes for clients around the world, ran into serious trouble when a subsidiary making chip cards dragged it close to bankruptcy. In 2002 the Bundesdruckerei was re-sold for a symbolic one euro to a group of trustees. The German government said the buy-back was in the interest of national security.
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