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Article: DE BEERS IN THE DUMPS.
- Article from:
- Jewelers Circular Keystone
- Article date:
- August 1, 2001
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc. (US). This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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De Beers has stumbled into a pile of troubles, as the European Commission--and even its own clients--question whether its new strategy is all it's cracked up to be.
"Change is painful," De Beers executives sometimes note when quizzed about the agony of sightholders who are trying to comply with its new dictates. But De Beers is finding change thornier than it bargained for.
Since last year, the company's attempts to reinvent both itself and the diamond industry have met a string of roadblocks. Last year's bid to gobble up Ashton Mining, co-owner of Argyle, fizzled when antitrust authorities unexpectedly stalled the move. Its privatization plan nearly ...