De Beers Sale: Ex-CEO's Consortium is Frontrunner
July 20, 26
(IDEX Online) - Anglo American has selected a preferred bidder for De Beers, its loss-making diamond division.
The Global Diamond Consortium, led by former De Beers CEO Gareth Penny (pictured), has emerged as the frontrunner, ahead of two other shortlisted bidders that have not officially been identified.
Botswana, which currently owns 15% of De Beers, is still expected to increase its share, and fellow diamond producers Angola and Namibia are expected to join the new ownership structure alongside private investors.
Penny took over as CEO at De Beers in March 2006 after Gary Ralfe's retirement and announced his resignation in August 2010.
He was non‑executive chairman of Norilsk Nickel (Nornickel), Russia's largest diversified mining and metals company, until the invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and is currently non‑executive chairman of Ninety One Plc and Ninety One Ltd, the asset‑management group.
It was back in May 2024 that Anglo announced plans to sell or demerge De Beers as part of a "radical" restructuring.
Since then, De Beers' value has been repeatedly written down - from $7.6 billion to $2.3 billion - amid sluggish natural‑diamond demand, competition from lab growns and ongoing challenging rough diamond trading conditions.
The sale is expected to conclude by the final quarter of 2026, subject to approval from Botswana and other conditions.
"Anglo American ran a competitive process involving three shortlisted bidders, and has since identified a preferred bidder, the Global Diamond Consortium," said Botswana's Minister for State President, Defense and Security Moeti Mohwasa.
Under the emerging blueprint, De Beers would move from being controlled by a single diversified miner to being owned by a mix of producer governments and private capital.
That shift is expected to give African states greater influence over marketing and investment decisions, while also testing whether a more politically complex shareholder base can deliver the restructuring and cost cuts De Beers needs.