THE consortium leading the race to buy De Beers plans to revive demand for natural diamonds through new marketing strategies aimed at countering the growing popularity of cheaper synthetic gems, Bloomberg reported.
The Global Diamond Consortium (GDC), led by former De Beers CEO Gareth Penny, is in the final stages of negotiations to acquire the diamond producer from Anglo American.
The group has secured the backing of Botswana, which hosts De Beers' largest mines, and has assembled a consortium of diamond producers, customers and investors.
“The market is still experiencing challenges and they are all about consumer demand and finding a way to address synthetics,” a GDC representative told Bloomberg.
The diamond industry has suffered a prolonged downturn caused by weak Chinese luxury spending and competition from laboratory-grown stones, which sell for a fraction of the price of mined diamonds.
GDC believes stronger marketing could help reverse the decline.
“We want to find new, innovative ways to create demand for diamonds,” the representative said.
Under the proposed deal, Botswana would double its De Beers stake to 30%. Namibia, Angola and Oman would also participate, with luxury group Richemont and jewellery retailer Signet reportedly in talks to join.
Anglo has sought to sell De Beers since 2024. Three impairments have reduced its carrying value to $2.3bn.
Bloomberg previously reported that Anglo was discussing a valuation of about $1bn, with additional payments linked to future performance.