Angola Bids for Minority Stake in De Beers to Fend Off Botswana

De Beers vies with Russia’s Alrosa PJSC to be the world’s largest producer of diamonds. 

Photographer: Simon Dawson/Bloomberg

Angola offered to buy a minority stake in De Beers in an attempt to keep one of the world’s biggest diamond companies independent, after Botswana said it’s seeking to take control of the firm.

State-owned Angolan diamond company Endiama submitted a fully financed bid for a “strategic” stake in De Beers, a proposal that “does not seek majority control,” the Angolan Ministry of Mineral Resources, Petroleum and Gas said in a statement on Wednesday.