Anglo American dents hopes of itemizing diamond firm De Beers on the London inventory market

Anglo American has written down the value of De Beers and minimised the chances of listing the diamond company on the London stock market.

The FTSE 100 mining giant cut the value of the world’s largest diamond maker for the second time in two years – from £5.5billion to £3.2billion. 

And, in a blow to the City, chief executive Duncan Wanblad said a sale was more likely than a stock market listing.

His remarks dented hopes that De Beers could join London’s bourse and are another setback for Chancellor Rachel Reeves.

The disappointment follows Unilever choosing Amsterdam for the main listing of its ice cream division last week.

But Wanblad said the main company is still committed to its primary listing in London and is ‘not thinking about leaving’. He insisted this a day after miner Glencore threatened to quit

Sparkler: De Beers, worn by the likes of actress Lily James (pictured), would more likely be sold than listed, said Anglo American chief exec Duncan Wanblad

London and move its listing to New York and rival Rio Tinto pushed back against pressure to move to Australia.

A sale of De Beers – its jewellery worn by the likes of actress Lily James, who is a brand ambassador – is ‘more likely in the short-term’ than an initial public offering, Wanblad told Bloomberg TV.

Anglo American wants to focus on copper and iron ore after successfully fending off a £39billion takeover swoop from rival BHP in May.

It agreed to sell its nickel business for £400million to China’s MMG this week, a sale which includes two processing plants and two greenfield growth projects in Brazil and is expected to be completed this year.

The miner is also set to spin off its Amplats arm, the world’s biggest platinum company, with a secondary listing on the London stock market expected in June.

And Anglo yesterday confirmed it will pick up the pace of investment in its Woodsmith fertiliser in North Yorkshire in 2027.

Last year, it pushed back investment as it fought off BHP in a blow for its 1,600 workers.

Anglo posted a £2.5billion loss for 2024 yesterday. But shares rose 2.5 per cent, or 59p, to 2429p as investors were impressed with the progress made to simplify the business. 

Analysts believe a downturn in popularity for mined diamonds and a slump in spending by Chinese consumers will deter any bidders for De Beers.

Anglo has cut its diamond production from an expected 33m carats to as low as 20m carats this year.

De Beers is joint-owned by Anglo and the government of Botswana – and is the world’s largest diamond miner by market value.

Rio Tinto urges investors to stick with London market

Rio Tinto has urged investors to reject a proposal to abandon its London listing.

The mining giant pushed back against activist shareholder Palliser Capital and said leaving is not in its best interests – a day after

Glencore said it could quit London for New York.

Rio has a primary listing in London and also trades shares on the Sydney market. But Palliser wants it to unify the corporate structure in Australia and ditch London.

Rio yesterday advised shareholders to vote against a resolution at annual general meetings in London and Perth in April and May.

In a vote of confidence in London after 88 firms quit last year, chief Jakob Stausholm said: ‘We are a global company, we have global investors, and London kind of works for us. I don’t believe you’re going to change fundamentally your value by (swapping) exchange.’