De Beers parent company Anglo American has begun meetings with several banks about listing the miner for an initial public offering (IPO), according to Bloomberg.
The move is part of a restructuring plan Anglo American announced last year to divest itself from the diamond miner and other units in its portfolio in order to deliver growth and focus on its core businesses. Meanwhile, the conglomerate is looking to sell the company as well.
“Anglo is pursuing a dual-track process in its efforts to exit De beers by trying to find a buyer for the struggling business while also starting preparations for an initial public offering as a backup solution,” Bloomberg noted.
Since announcing its intention to sell various units, Anglo has offloaded coal, nickel and platinum assets, with De Beers being the last targeted division still looking for a buyer.
Anglo American CEO Duncan Wanblad speculated at the Mining Indaba conference in February that De Beers would exit the firm by the end of 2025.
“Its going to be fully set up as a stand-alone business to make sure that it’s not going to be impacting as a drag in any way, shape or form on the business,” he noted.
De Beers recently signed a new 10-year sales agreement with the government of Botswana, which owns 15% of the diamond miner but is looking to raise its stake, according to Reuters.
However, selling De Beers may not be so easy in this persistently weak diamond market, which is battling economic challenges and a move away from diamonds toward gold in Hong Kong and China, one of the largest markets for luxury goods. In February, Anglo wrote down De Beers by $2.88 billion, putting the company’s value at $4.1 billion. That came just one year after Anglo put a $1.56 billion impairment on the miner.
In its most recent results, reported in February, De Beers’ revenue fell 23% to $3.29 billion, while the company posted a net loss of $288 million for 2024.
Image: A De Beers sight case. (De Beers)
