African states, business groups eyeing stake in De Beers, CEO says

De Beers has attracted interest from several business groups and African governments as parent Anglo American looks to offload its stake in the firm, the diamond giant’s CEO told Reuters.

Botswana, Angola and Namibia – all major diamond producers – have expressed interest in acquiring equity in De Beers, alongside “a number of business-led groups,” CEO Al Cook said, stopping short of commenting on the status of talks or the names of some of the interested parties.

Reuters reported in June, citing sources, that billionaire Anil Agarwal, Indian diamond groups and Qatari investment funds were among those that had shown interest in De Beers.

Anglo American, which owns 85% of De Beers, has valued the diamond producer at about $4.9 billion.

When asked about who it would prefer as the company’s new owner, Cook said the focus was not on identity but on alignment with its long-term strategy, including its emphasis on natural diamonds, partnerships with producer nations and growth in key markets.

De Beers is sharpening its focus on India, which Cook called “a tremendously important market.” He expects demand for natural diamonds in the country to double, with the market for the precious stone hitting 1.5 trillion rupees ($16.7  billion) by 2030.

The group opened its fifth Forevermark store, its largest store globally, in Mumbai this week and plans to expand the network to 25 outlets by the year-end, with a long‑term goal of crossing 100 stores.

De Beers, whose revenue slid 13% to $1.95 billion in the first half of 2025 due in part to low prices, is banking on rising self-purchases in India as demand globally has shifted away from a gifting-led model.

The group is also doubling down on its Element Six business, which brought in about $300 million in revenue last year by supplying synthetic diamond wafers to data centers for their use as heat conductors. It discontinued its lab-grown diamond jewellery brand Lightbox last year.

($1 = 89.8090 Indian rupees)

(By Praveen Paramasivam; Editing by Anil D’Silva)