Luxury group Richemont and Signet Jewelers, the US retailer behind Kay, Zales and Jared, are in talks to join the Global Diamond Consortium, the vehicle headed by former De Beers chief executive Gareth Penny that emerged in July as the preferred bidder to buy De Beers from Anglo American, according to five people familiar with the matter. The consortium already includes Namibia and Angola, two of the largest diamond producers, and is negotiating with Botswana, which holds the other 15 percent of De Beers, over raising its stake to around 25 percent.
The talks are advanced but there is no guarantee either company joins, and any holdings would likely be relatively small. The consortium and Signet declined to comment and Richemont did not respond. Anglo has been trying to sell De Beers since fending off BHP’s approach in 2024 and has taken three impairments on the business in three years, cutting its carrying value to $2.3 billion in February.