CHAMWE KAIRA
De Beers remains on track for sale as parent company Anglo American continues to streamline the diamond business and cut costs in response to challenging global diamond market conditions.
Anglo American chief executive officer Duncan Wanblad said the company is advancing the sale process for De Beers while implementing measures to improve its cost performance and reduce capital expenditure to lessen the impact of weak diamond demand.
“We are also advancing the sale process for De Beers alongside streamlining opportunities to improve its cost performance and reduce capital expenditure to minimise the impact from challenging diamond markets,” Wanblad said in the company’s half-year results.
The update forms part of Anglo American’s broader portfolio optimisation strategy, which is focused on copper, premium iron ore and crop nutrients ahead of its planned merger with Teck to create a global metals and minerals company.
Separately, MoneyWeb reported this week that Anglo American is discussing a deal worth about US$$1 billion (N$16.5bn) to sell its De Beers diamond business, just a fraction of what the one-time diamond monopoly was once worth.
Anglo has been looking to sell De Beers since it fended off an almost $50 billion approach from BHP Group in early 2024, yet its disposal process has been stymied by a crisis in the diamond market.
Anglo has so far taken three impairments on De Beers in just three years, lowering its carrying value for the unit to US$2.3 billion in February, MoneyWeb reported.
Earlier this month, it picked a consortium led by former De Beers chief executive officer Gareth Penny as the preferred bidder.
The current deal structure envisages Global Diamond Consortium, a group led by Penny and including Namibia, Angola and some of the world’s biggest diamond traders, paying about US$1 billion for Anglo’s 85% stake in De Beers, according to people familiar with the situation. About $750 million will be paid upfront, with a further US$250 million paid later, the people said.
MoneyWeb added that there will also be additional payments based on the performance of the business after the sale completes, some of the people said, asking not to be identified because the matter is private.
GDC would also pump about US$$500 million into De Beers as part of the deal with Anglo, the people said. Still, the discussions are not complete and there is no guarantee a deal will be completed or agreed on these terms, some of the people said.
Diamonds are important for the Namibian economy. Namdeb Holdings is 50% owned by the Government of the Republic of Namibia and 50% by the De Beers Group. Namdeb Holdings is the holding company for Namdeb Diamond Corporation and Debmarine Namibia, with a 100% shareholding in each.
In 2025, Debmarine produced 1 435 000 carats. On the other hand, Namdeb Diamond Corporation produced 647 181 carats, according to the Chamber of Mines of Namibia statistics.
Namdeb Holdings reported a turnover of N$12.076 billion in 2025, paid corporate tax worth N$72.279 million, paid N$987.416 million in royalties and paid N$260 million in export levy, according to the Chamber of Mines.
