Angola is seeking a 10 percent holding in De Beers as part of Anglo American’s proposed sale of its majority stake in the diamond producer, a spokesperson for Angola’s mines ministry told Reuters on Friday, November 13. The spokesperson was confirming a report in the Angolan weekly newspaper Novo Jornal, which also said Namibia is seeking a 10 percent stake.
Anglo American owns 85 percent of De Beers and put the business up for sale in 2024 as part of a broader restructuring, amid falling diamond prices and growing competition from lab grown stones. De Beers operates and explores for diamonds in Botswana, Namibia, Angola, South Africa and Canada, and sources about 70 percent of its diamonds from Botswana.
Botswana, which held a right of first refusal on Anglo’s stake, backed the transaction earlier this week and said it will double its existing 15 percent holding to 30 percent, making it De Beers’ single largest shareholder. President Duma Boko said the governments of Namibia and Angola would also participate in the transaction. Botswana has named the Global Diamond Consortium, led by former De Beers chief executive Gareth Penny, as its preferred bidder, and Swiss luxury group Richemont, owner of Cartier, is among the firms in talks to join the consortium.
Anglo American said on Monday it would continue to work with the African governments and the consortium towards agreeing binding transaction documents. No price has been disclosed for Angola’s proposed 10 percent holding, and the size of Namibia’s stake and its financing have not been disclosed either.
The structure taking shape would leave De Beers majority influenced by the three southern African states whose mines supply most of its stones, alongside private consortium capital. That is a material change in governance for a producer whose marketing and pricing power have historically sat in London, and it lands while the natural diamond market is still absorbing weak prices and synthetic competition.