Business Week says De Beers needs Winspear
Winspear Diamonds Inc WSP
Shares issued 51,634,088 Jul 20 close $4.41
Fri 21 Jul 2000 In the News
Business Week magazine says in its July 24 issue that South Africa’s De Beers Consolidated Mines is pushing for a stake in the promising Canadian diamond fields, which would be its first ownership of a mine outside Africa. Writer Hugh Filman says the company’s recent $175-million hostile takeover bid for Canada’s Winspear Diamonds Inc. should help De Beers retain global dominance as a supplier of the gems. (All figures are in U.S. dollars.) De Beers, however, also wants Canada’s diamonds, mined in the frigid north, for marketing reasons, according to analysts. After the beating it took for selling diamonds for apartheid-era South Africa, De Beers now wants to be able to tell consumers that the rock in that ring is not a “conflict” diamond, one mined in war-torn Angola or Sierra Leone. Insiders say that Canada, where British and Australian companies already operate, could eventually yield up to 20 per cent of the $7-billion world diamond market. “De Beers has to be part of this if they want to maintain their dominance,” says Yorkton Securities analyst Art Ettlinger.
© Copyright 2000 Canjex Publishing Ltd. canada-stockwatch.com |
