De Beers, who called out “diamonds last forever,” is about to change the two former heads of the owner's family to lead the acquisition force

The Zhitong Finance App learned that Anglo American Plc (Anglo American Plc) will soon fully launch the sales process for its diamond business division De Beers (De Beers). According to media reports, citing information revealed by people familiar with the matter, the potential buyers include two former CEOs of the legendary diamond miner and an Australian mining veteran.

While resisting the takeover offensive initiated by BHP Group (BHP Group) last year, Duncan Wanblad (Duncan Wanblad), CEO of Anglo-American Resources, proposed a large-scale restructuring plan. The divestment of De Beers was the final step. The company has previously agreed to sell its coal and nickel assets, and plans to complete a formal spin-off of its platinum business this week.

According to people familiar with the matter, Gareth Penny (Gareth Penny) and Bruce Cleaver (Bruce Cleaver), the former CEO of De Beers, a global diamond industry leader, each led a consortium to plan acquisitions, and Australian mining veteran Michael O'Keeffe (Michael O'Keeffe) is also among the potential buyers. Anglo-American Resources, on the other hand, is cooperating with financial advisors to prepare to launch the sale process.

As global demand continues to collapse and competition in the synthetic diamond sector continues to be fierce, the diamond industry has fallen into the most serious crisis in decades, and British and American Resources have been waiting for the right time to sell their De Beers. In February of this year, the company lowered the De Beers business valuation for the second time, which is currently around US$4.1 billion.

Despite the sharp drop in rough prices, British and American resource executives still regard De Beers as the “jewel in the crown,” saying they will patiently search for buyers to avoid damaging actual value due to hasty sales. Currently, the diamond market is showing signs of stabilization, but the new round of trade war initiated by US President Donald Trump is facing new uncertainties and demand shocks.

People familiar with the matter said that British and American resources are also evaluating De Beers' options for an initial public offering or a complete spin-off, but the sale is the preferred and most likely option.

The successful sale of De Beers's business will mark an important step for Anglo-American Resources CEO Wan Bled to streamline the company's business and reverse the decline in performance growth. A series of previous mistakes and untimely decisions caused this century-old miner to run in trouble and was exposed to the coveted takeover by BHP Billiton.

Anglo-American Resources has successfully spun off its platinum operations and agreed to sell coal assets to Peabody Energy Corp. (Peabody Energy Corp.) last November. However, Peabody claimed that the fire at a mining site owned by Anglo-American Resources may be an important reason to abandon the acquisition; Anglo-American Resources said that the acquisition deal should continue.

Bruce Cleaver is currently the chairman of emerald miner Gemfields Group Ltd., and was CEO of De Beers until 2023. Two people familiar with the matter said that he is making late-stage financing arrangements for potential offers.

Penny, while the billionaire Oppenheimer family still held shares, led the company through the global financial crisis, when the company was forced to shut down mining and raise capital through an emergency allotment; he is currently the chairman of asset management company Ninety One Plc.

Australian mining veteran O'Keefe sold Riversdale Mining to global mining giant Rio Tinto Group (Rio Tinto Group) for about 3.7 billion US dollars in 2011. He is currently the chairman of Australia's Burgundy Diamond Mines Ltd., which operates the large diamond mine Ekati in Canada, which once belonged to BHP Billiton.

“A Diamond Is Forever” (original English sentence: A Diamond Is Forever) is a popular advertising slogan and the core of the diamond marketing strategy that De Beers (De Beers), the king of diamonds, began using in 1947. It was created by Francis Gerety (Francis Gerety), a young copywriter at the advertising agency N.W. Ayer, in 1947, and has been used by De Beers ever since, making it one of the most famous and successful brand slogans in the world.

Since 1950, De Beers has long promoted the rapid popularity of diamond engagement rings in the US and around the world through advertising education markets. The slogan can be described as successfully deepening the hearts of people “Diamond = Eternal Love”. In 1999, Advertising Age named it the “Best Advertising Slogan of the 20th Century.”