Reuters Next: De Beers CEO sees sale of diamond firm in 'weeks not months'

Anglo American

Tue 12:05

Adds detail, background, quotes
By Clara Denina, Izabela Niemiec and Tom Daly
LONDON, June 16 (Reuters) - A sale of De Beers, Anglo American's AAL.L diamond unit, has never been closer, its CEO said on Tuesday, adding that a deal could come within weeks.         
"I'm hopeful that it'll happen in weeks rather than months going forward," De Beers CEO Al Cook said in an interview at the Reuters NEXT Europe conference in London. "It's been a two-year period. There's been a lot of negotiations. They're now maturing. We've never been closer than we are to a sale."
    Anglo put De Beers - one of the world's leading diamond companies with operations spanning Botswana, Namibia, Angola, South Africa and Canada - up for sale in May 2024 as part of a broader restructuring amid falling diamond prices and the global rise of synthetic diamonds.
The unit has attracted interest from the governments of Botswana, which already holds a 15% stake, Namibia and Angola. They are members of consortia with companies interested in buying Anglo's 85% stake, according to sources. 
"I think what's good for us is we've had countries that really understand diamonds," Cook said.
    "We've had consortia and companies that know a lot about diamonds wanting to take stakes. So we've got, I think, all the ingredients for a really powerful public-private partnership. But as with all deals, we need to get it over the line."
    Sources previously told Reuters there are two consortia still vying to take stakes in De Beers, down from six in 2025. The two remaining consortia include governments of diamond-producing countries, ex De Beers CEO Gareth Penny, now chair of asset manager Ninety One, a Qatari investment fund and Israeli businessman Nir Livnat.
    
    
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 (Reporting by Clara Denina and Izabela Niemiec; writing by Tom Daly; Editing by Veronica Brown, Ros Russell and Susan Fenton)
 ((Tom.Daly@thomsonreuters.com;))