Johann Rupert’s Richemont in talks to join De Beers bid

Billionaire Johann Rupert, through his luxury group Richemont, and US jewellery retailer Signet Jewelers are reportedly in discussions to join a consortium aiming to acquire De Beers from Anglo American. Bloomberg news outlet revealed that Richemont, led by former De Beers CEO Gareth Penny, and Signet Jewelers are considering minority stakes in the consortium.

Richemont, founded by Rupert in 1988, is a Swiss luxury goods group with brands like Cartier, Van Cleef & Arpels, and Vacheron Constantin, with its jewellery division accounting for approximately three-quarters of its business. Signet Jewelers, a major US retailer, owns brands such as Zales, Jared, and Kay, both operating downstream in the diamond industry by selling jewellery to consumers.

This potential deal comes amid De Beers facing challenges due to falling diamond prices, weaker demand in China, and increased competition from lab-grown stones. Anglo American, seeking to offload the diamond miner as part of its business restructuring, had previously named the consortium, known as the Global Diamond Consortium, as its preferred bidder in July.

The consortium includes Namibia, Angola, and Botswana, which is in talks to increase its stake in De Beers to about 25%. Recently, De Beers announced a two-year pause at its Venetia mine in South Africa's leading diamond mine, which employs around 4,400 people, to cut costs. This decision follows the earlier pause of the Tuzo Phase 3 expansion project at Gahcho Kué mine in Canada.

De Beers, majority-owned by Anglo American, is itself merging with Canada-based Teck Resources, both companies focusing heavily on copper mining due to its surging demand from the global energy transition.