Even with its legendary image of glitz and glamour, diamond icon De Beers has struggled to attract a buyer after nearly two years on a market dulled by falling prices and the allure of lab-grown gems.
The seller, mining titan Anglo American, even warned Thursday it may take a third writedown in as many years on the company that was born in South Africa 130 years ago and went on to dominate the global diamond market.
This is after a 2.9 billion drop last year and 1.6 billion charge the year before, bringing its estimated value to about 5 billion, according to company records.
