Anglo American picks Gareth Penny consortium as preferred bidder for De Beers

Anglo American has moved a step closer to exiting De Beers, naming a consortium led by former De Beers chief executive Gareth Penny as its preferred bidder for the 85% stake in the diamond business it has been trying to sell since 2025. Chief executive Duncan Wanblad has said the company is not in exclusive talks and that more than one party remains interested, but he has also described the process as being in its final, most difficult phase, with a deal targeted before the end of 2026.

A depressed diamond market

Anglo first flagged its intention to separate from De Beers as part of a broader restructuring that has already produced the Valterra Platinum demerger and, more recently, the Anglo Teck merger with Canada's Teck Resources. The De Beers sale has proved far harder to conclude, dragged out by weak natural diamond prices and competition from lab-grown stones, which have combined to push the reported valuation for Anglo's stake down to around $1bn, a fraction of what De Beers commanded at its peak. Anglo has said it considered and rejected a standalone stock market listing for De Beers in favour of finding strategic buyers.

Botswana's stake in the outcome

Botswana's government holds the remaining 15% of De Beers and has pre-emption rights that let it either partner with the winning bidder or attempt to acquire the business independently or with another partner. Diamonds are central to Botswana's economy, and Debswana, the 50/50 joint venture between De Beers and the Botswana government that runs mines including Jwaneng and Orapa, is the country's single largest source of state revenue. Any change of control at De Beers therefore has implications well beyond Anglo's own balance sheet.

What happens next

Wanblad has declined to confirm the reported $1bn price tag, and the identity of the ultimate buyer is not yet settled. A completed sale would remove the last of the businesses Anglo has earmarked for disposal since 2023, alongside the coal assets it has already sold and the platinum unit it has already demerged, leaving a group focused on copper and iron ore once its merger with Teck closes.

Sources

• Bloomberg: Anglo American Picks Global Diamond Consortium as De Beers Preferred Bidder, 17 Jul 2026
• Rapaport: De Beers Still Has 'More Than One' Bidder, Anglo Says, 01 Jul 2026
• JCK: Anglo American: De Beers Sale Nearing End, 01 Aug 2026

Photo: The Jwaneng diamond mine in Botswana, operated by Debswana, the joint venture between De Beers and the Botswana government. Cretep, Wikimedia Commons, Public domain.