De Beers settles two more lawsuits

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

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

When added to a prior class-action settlement of $250 million, plus $5 million in what are termed settlement costs, De Beers has now paid $300 million to settle its 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 hasn’t put its American legal woes fully to bed—there still appears to be no settlement in the suit 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.

De Beers also did not comment by press time. In settling its prior suits, a De Beers spokesman said “it is part of our general strategy to put these things behind us.”

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