The board of African Diamonds have been informed by their registrars that 1 million shares in an account we believe to be controlled by De Beers have been sold or transferred without the company being notified.  This, if true, breaches Financial Services Authority (FSA) rules.  This account held 4,423,293 (5.8%) and now holds 3,423,293 (4.49%). 

Under FSA rules, an account holder must inform the Company when shareholdings breach percentage points.  We have not been informed.  We are asking the FSA to examine the trades.

John Teeling, Chairman, commented: "This is very disappointing and strange.  In recent weeks, a senior director of De Beers turned down an offer to sell their block at a price significantly higher than the prices they obtained in the market.  Subsequently, other approaches were made to De Beers' executives to sell their shares with no response". 

De Beers Response

We refer to the statement issued by African Diamonds (the Company) on RNS earlier today claiming that De Beers failed to notify the Company of a disposal of shares. We take our regulatory obligations extremely seriously and confirm that we made the necessary filings in accordance with the relevant regulations. We are seeking a full retraction of the statement by African Diamonds.