De Beers Settles Two More Lawsuits

De Beers has settled two more trade-generated class-action lawsuits for $45 million.

The suits—from Anco Industrial Diamond and Derek Parsons, the head of the Miami bourse—accused De Beers of anticompetitive practices.

When added to a prior class-action settlement of $250 million, plus $5 million in what are termed settlement costs, De Beers has paid $300 million to settle various class-action claims. The money will now be distributed among consumers and the trade, according to Jared Stamell, a New York antitrust lawyer who is involved in most of the suits.

Although the past settlements contained some injunctive restrictions on De Beers’ behavior, the new settlement contains no new special provisions, Stamell said.

De Beers spokeswoman Lynette Hori said, “This settles—albeit only on a preliminary basis—all the class actions brought against us.” There is one outstanding suit left—from defrocked sightholder W.B. David. De Beers has defaulted in that suit, which means David has technically won, although there does not appear to have been a settlement. W.B. David’s lawyer did not return a phone call from JCK.

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