South African billionaire Johann Rupert's Richemont in talks to join De Beers bid

Compagnie Financière Richemont SA, the Cartier owner chaired by South African billionaire Johann Rupert, is in talks to join the consortium bidding to buy De Beers, the world's best-known diamond company, from Anglo American Plc, Bloomberg reported on Thursday.

U.S. jewelry retailer Signet Jewelers Ltd. is also in talks to join the group, according to the report, which cited people familiar with the matter. The discussions are advanced, but there is no guarantee either company will take part. Billionaires.Africa could not find a public response from Richemont or Signet.

The bidding group, the Global Diamond Consortium, is led by Gareth Penny, a former chief executive of De Beers, and already includes the governments of Namibia and Angola as well as several large diamond manufacturers. Anglo American chose it as the preferred bidder for De Beers in July.

The size of any stake Richemont might take is unclear. With Namibia, Angola and Botswana expected to hold large shares, and other private investors already committed, the holdings of Richemont and Signet would probably be relatively small if a deal is agreed.

Why a jeweler wants a diamond miner

A stake would bring Richemont's jewelry business closer to the source of its most important raw material. The Geneva-based group owns Cartier and Van Cleef & Arpels, two of the world's biggest high-end jewelry brands, along with watchmakers such as IWC Schaffhausen and Jaeger-LeCoultre and pen maker Montblanc. Jewelry has become its largest and most profitable business.

De Beers, founded in 1888, controls diamond mines in Botswana, South Africa, Namibia and Canada and still sells a large share of the world's rough diamonds. It has struggled in recent years as demand in China weakened and cheaper laboratory-grown stones took market share from natural diamonds.

Anglo American has been trying to sell De Beers since early 2024, when it rejected a takeover approach of almost $50 billion from BHP Group and promised investors it would separate its businesses. The diamond slump has made that harder. Anglo has written down the value of De Beers three times in three years and cut its carrying value to $2.3 billion in February. Bloomberg reported in July that the parties had discussed a price of about $1 billion, with further payments linked to De Beers' performance after the sale.

Botswana's bigger say

Botswana, which supplies most of De Beers' diamonds through Debswana, its 50-50 mining venture with the company, already owns 15% of De Beers. The government is in talks to raise that holding to about 25%, Bloomberg reported earlier this month. Diamonds account for about a third of Botswana's government revenue and about three-quarters of its export earnings, and its economy shrank by about 1% last year.

Under the current plan, Botswana, Namibia and Angola together would hold less than half of De Beers, leaving room for private investors such as Richemont.

Rupert's fortune

Rupert, 76, has chaired Richemont since founding it in 1988 as a spinoff of his family's tobacco and luxury interests. He also chairs Remgro Ltd., the Stellenbosch-based investment company in which he owns about 7%, and holds about 26% of Reinet Investments, a Luxembourg holding company. Forbes estimated his net worth at $17.4 billion in August, making him Africa's second-richest person behind Nigerian billionaire Aliko Dangote.

Most of that wealth is tied to his control of Richemont, which he holds through Compagnie Financière Rupert.