Leviev sells Angola diamond mine stake for reported $380m profit

Real estate magnate Lev Leviev has sold his 18% stake in Angola’s Catoca diamond mine to China’s Sonangol International for $400 million, Russia’s “Kommersant” newspaper reports.

Leviev acquired the stake in the Angola mine in the 1990s for $20m. Russia’s state owned diamond producer Alrosa holds 32.8% of Catoca, and Alrosa CEO Fyodor Andreyev has told Russia’s Minister of Finance Alexei Kudrin about the sale.

Globes reports:

“The deal is scheduled to be finalized in June when Sonangol will become the first Chinese company to own part of a diamond mine. In 2010, Catoca had $527 million revenue from rough diamonds and reported a net profit of $111 million.”

Last week MINING.com reported:

“Alrosa provided a rare glimpse into its finances and operations ahead of a possible public offering. The state-owned company supplies about a quarter of the world’s diamonds and in 2010 produced more of the precious stones than De Beers, historically the dominant miner and marketer of the gems.”

Comments