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De Beers: The Saga Continues
November 13, 2006
Some interesting nuggets to chew on if you want to speculate about the future of De Beers:
-NUGGET NO. 1: With all the talk that Anglo-American, which owns 45 % of De Beers, is no longer enamored with the Oppenheimers, it also appears that the Oppenheimers want to divest themselves of Anglo. They just sold 33% of their Anglo stock to a Chinese company.Considering Nicky’s grandfather founded Anglo, there's quite a little psychodrama there.
-NUGGET NO. 2: This article talks about whether De Beers will soon “outsource” its technical expertise, and become more focussed on marketing. It includes a snarky quote that “perfume salesmen” are taking over the company. That's probably overstated, but there is a lot of concern in the industry that De Beers is losing employees with diamond expertiese. While it's great that De Beers is getting people from other fields to look at the industry with "fresh eyes," as our President recently put it, many now fear they are overdoing it.
- NUGGET NO. 3: And finally, there is a lot of talk that De Beers Canada will go public, which could play into nugget no. 1.
What’s it all mean? Feel free to engage in irresponsible speculation in the comments or email me at rbates@reedbusiness.com.
Posted by Rob Bates on November 13, 2006 | Comments (0)
