Richemont, the Swiss luxury group behind Cartier and Van Cleef & Arpels, is in advanced talks to join the consortium best placed to buy De Beers, Bloomberg reported on 15 October, citing five people familiar with the matter. Reuters confirmed the talks through one source. As of 18 October nothing is signed and neither side has confirmed. If it happens, a family-controlled jeweller would own a slice of a miner whose stones end up in its jewellery.
The De Beers deal on the table
Anglo American owns 85% of De Beers and has tried to sell it since 2024. On 17 July, a Botswana minister told lawmakers that Anglo had picked the Global Diamond Consortium, led by former De Beers chief executive Gareth Penny, as preferred buyer. Anglo has not confirmed this.
According to Bloomberg, the consortium would pay about $1 billion for the 85%, partly deferred, plus payments tied to future performance, and would inject about $500 million. Namibia and Angola are members. Anglo has cut De Beers’ carrying value three times in three years, to $2.3 billion in February. Richemont and the US retailer Signet would likely hold “relatively minor” stakes, Bloomberg reported.
Governments at the table
Botswana owns the other 15% of De Beers and half of Debswana, the joint venture that produces most of its diamonds. It holds a right of first refusal and, per Bloomberg, is discussing a rise to around 25%. So Richemont would sit next to three governments that answer to voters, not only to shareholders.
How Rupert controls Richemont
Johann Rupert founded Richemont in 1988, spinning off the international assets of Rembrandt Group, the company his father Anton built. He controls it through Compagnie Financière Rupert, which held 10.18% of the capital but 50.60% of the votes as at 31 March 2026, Richemont says. The reason: its unlisted B shares carry half the votes for about 9% of the equity. See holding structures in plain English on splitting votes from value.
A family moving up the chain
In November 2011, another diamond dynasty, the Oppenheimers, agreed to sell their 40% of De Beers to Anglo for $5.1 billion, a deal Bloomberg says valued the business at almost $13 billion. Fifteen years later, Anglo’s 85% is reportedly priced near $1 billion.
For Richemont, the logic is positioning more than profit. Jewellery is about three quarters of its business, and its executives reject lab-grown stones. A seat inside De Beers would give it a voice in how natural diamonds are mined and marketed. There is a precedent: Graff, another jeweller, owns 14.9% of the miner Gem Diamonds, Reuters notes.
What to watch
- A signing. In July, officials said the sale was likely to close in the fourth quarter of 2026.
- Botswana’s final stake, and whether it uses its right of first refusal.
- Whether Richemont confirms, and how large its stake would be.
A fair caveat
Richemont’s role rests on unnamed sources, and the price and structure are Bloomberg’s reporting; all of it may change. RBC analysts, quoted by Reuters, warned the stake could become “a money pit”.
Questions to bring to your advisors
If we took a minority stake in a key supplier, what would we gain, what would we give up in control and liquidity, and how would we exit? These are questions to bring to your advisors, not advice.
