De Beers is Consciously Uncoupling from Anglo
June 11, 24
(IDEX Online) - De Beers is heading for an amicable divorce from Anglo American, according to the company's CEO Al Cook.
He described the proposed sell-off as a "conscious uncoupling", the term Gwyneth Paltrow and Coldplay frontman Chris Martin famously used to announce their split in 2014, after 12 years together.
Anglo and De Beers are also, coincidentally, parting company after 12 years. Anglo increased its stake in De Beers from 45 per cent to 85 per cent in 2012, with a $5.1bn payment to the Oppenheimer family.
Anglo, which fought off a takeover bid from Australian mining giant BHP last month, announced it would ditch loss-making De Beers to focus on copper and other more profitable activities.
Cook, who took over as CEO is February 2023, told Mail Online that De Beers had done "some of our finest work" in the 124 years before Anglo took control.
"Mining will always be necessary and important, and we think we're very good at it," he said, "but it's got to be so much more than that, if we're going to be successful in the future."
His roadmap for De Beers, as outlined in the company's Origins strategy, is to expand its retail jewelry operation, with 60 news stores by the end of the decade, to challenge Tiffany, Cartier and other high-end rivals.
De Beers will also cease its production of gem quality lab growns for its Lightbox brand, as announced at JCK Vegas.
Pic shows Gwyneth Paltrow and Chris Martin.