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Analysts said the joint venture no longer fitted LVMH's
strategy, while Anglo American, which has long dominated global
rough diamond sales, has been developing its presence on the
high-margin diamond retail market.
LVMH had no comment. De Beers said in a statement that fully
integrating De Beers Diamond Jewellers would enable the group to
enhance value.
Anglo American, which along with other mining companies has
largely recovered from a deep commodities downturn in 2015, has
put diamonds, along with copper and platinum, at the heart of
its portfolio.
One of the advantages of diamonds is that they are a
counter-cyclical luxury product that can generate profits even
when bulk industrial commodities are in a downturn.
De Beers Diamond Jewellers' retail network comprises 32 stores
in 17 countries. This includes a growing business in greater
China, an established presence in London and Paris, and a new
flagship location in New York.
In addition, De Beers' Forevermark high-end diamond brand has
expanded into 2,000 outlets globally and it says it expects the
growth to continue this year.
Analysts said LVMH had finally ended a joint venture that dated
back to when the group did not have any branded jewelry of its
own.
"The situation is very different today, as they own one of the
megabrands in this space: Bulgari," Luca Solca, analyst at Exane
BNP Paribas, said.
"It seems appropriate therefore to turn the page on this and
relegate it to the 'experiments that didn't work' pile."
Anglo American shares were 1.4 percent higher by 1200 GMT (8
a.m. ET) while LVMH was up 0.6 percent.
(Reporting by Dominique Vidalon and Pascale Denis in Paris and
Barbara Lewis in London; Editing by Sudip Kar-Gupta and David
Evans)
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