DE BEERS S.A. LOSES OUT

Finance24.com stated that De Beers S.A. had to bend its knee before Oakwell Associates, an associate member of Professional Investors Group, in its attempt to acquire one of the world's biggest diamonds.

The following article was published on Finance24.com’s web site
(http://www.finance24.com/Finance/Companies/0,,1518-24_1627206,00.html).

November 26, 2004
De Beers loses out
Philip de Bruin

Johannesburg - The South African diamond juggernaut, De Beers, had to bend the knee before an international investment company in its attempt to acquire one of the world's biggest diamonds.

The giant diamond of 562.7 carats was sold on an auction in Zurich, Switzerland, last week.

The successful bidder was Oakwell Associates, an investment company with connections in Africa, Asia, America and Europe.

Oakwell requested that the selling price not be made public. The diamond was, however, bought by the previous owner, a Portuguese consortium, for approximately R100m in 1993. Local traders estimate the current value to be "at least R300m".

More than 20 diamond traders - hailing from the Netherlands, Israel, India, Japan and the US amongst other places and including De Beers - bid for the diamond.

Jorgé Vicente, president of Oakwell, says this diamond, which has been named the Oakwell diamond, will be cut and kept as an investment.

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