Botswana will raise its ownership in De Beers to 30%, President Duma Boko stated during a speech to the nation’s parliament, according to Reuters.
The Global Diamond Consortium (GDC), headed by ex-De Beers CEO Gareth Penny, has been chosen as the top bidder.
The GDC encompasses Namibia, Angola, and numerous prominent diamond trading companies globally. Global jewelry sellers Signet and Richemont are also set to join the consortium. A Bloomberg report from July indicated that the GDC might spend around $1 billion to acquire Anglo American’s 85% interest in De Beers, along with an extra $500 million to be invested as part of the agreement.
Botswana, functioning as the main mining center for De Beers, presently owns a 15% share in the diamond producer and a 50% stake in Debswana, an alliance with De Beers that mines the vast majority of diamonds in the nation.
Anglo American, which holds 85% of De Beers, has been looking to sell the unit after turning down a takeover offer from BHP, worth almost $50 billion, earlier in 2024. The ongoing crisis in the diamond market has complicated the sale process.
In the last three years, Anglo American has reduced the value of its De Beers assets on three occasions, decreasing the diamond division’s book value to $2.3 billion as of February.
source: reuters.com
