Amid the talk to offer to buy DeBeers & its’ impact on the diamond industry, Leibish Polnauer, President & Founder-Leibish Jewelry said, What does the future hold for the diamond industry? Leibish, weighs in on the speculated De Beers sale and the potential impact it will have on the diamond market.
The best news I’ve heard in a long time from our industry is that Anglo American, the multinational British-based mining company, is considering a sale of De Beers. Included among its top suitors are Persian Gulf sovereign wealth funds, and luxury entities.
But Anglo American itself is a target for a takeover after receiving a bid from its largest competitor, Australian mining conglomerate BHP for $39B. The current bid was rejected by Anglo due to its objections that Anglo divest its platinum and ore industries in South Africa.
Anglo American has a deep history with DeBeers going back over a century. In 1917, gold and diamond entrepreneur Sir Ernest Oppenheimer founded Anglo American. By 1926, the company became the largest single shareholder of De Beers Consolidated Mines. By 1929 Oppenheimer became De Beers chairman.
In 2011 following the death Oppenheimer’s son Harry (1908-2000) who was chairman of Anglo and De Beers — the family sold its 40% stake in De Beers to Anglo American for $5.1B (with a valuation of c. $11B for the entire company.)
In his bottom line Leibish Polnauer suggest; here is a critical first step to this to ensure its success. De Beers must sell Lightbox and get rid of that nasty bug riding on the back of a luxury product.
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