De Beers to admit price-fixing in US
DIAMOND producer De Beers was today expected to plead guilty to a 10-year-old price-fixing charge, allowing it to return to the US market place after almost 60 years.
The South African company, 45%-owned by miner Anglo-American, plans to open a store on Fifth Avenue to rival Tiffany, Cartier and Van Cleef & Arpels.
It was expected to plead guilty to one count of price-fixing involving industrial diamonds and to pay a fine of up to $10m (£5.4m).
De Beers and General Electric were alleged to have entered into a conspiracy in 1991-92 to fix prices of industrial diamonds-although the charge against GE was later dropped.
De Beers has been the target of US anti-trust authorities since at least 1945, and has not traded directly in diamonds in the American market since then.
The settlement is unlikely to affect income from rough diamond sales, which topped $3bn last year, but could boost the firm's joint venture with luxury goods company LVMH.
'A lot of people recognise the name De Beers, especially the high-end customers,î said Joan Storms, an analyst with Wedbush Morgan Securities in Los Angeles.
