Govt to weighoption on its De Beers' stake

This follows last week's announcement that Anglo American had agreed to buy the Oppenheimer family's 40 percent stake in diamond miner De Beers for $5.1 billion (P36.5 billion) in cash, potentially raising its ownership of the diamond miner to 85 percent.

Botswana, which currently holds a 15-percent stake in De Beers, has a pre-emption right over the Oppenheimer family's shares that, if exercised, would lift the government's ownership to 25 percent. Says a statement from the Ministry of Minerals, Energy and Water Resources: