The American private equity giant Blackstone buys the Antwerp diamond appraiser IGI for 569.7 million dollars (527 million euros).
IGI or International Gemological Institute has its headquarters in Antwerp and was founded in 1975. The company is one of the largest diamond appraisers in the world, with 20 laboratories for the inspection of finished jewellery, natural and artificial diamonds and gemstones. The group also has 14 schools that train numerous diamond specialists.
The Antwerp company was founded by the Lorie diamond family, which is still partly in the capital. She owns 20 percent of IGI. The Chinese conglomerate Fosun has owned the remaining 80 percent since 2018. However, Fosun, founded by Guo Guangchang aka the “Chinese Warren Buffett” as a nod to the American superinvestor, is slimming down to reduce its debt burden and appease the markets about its financial stability.
The deal is one of the most important Belgian acquisitions of the year.
In that context, it became known at the beginning of this year that Fosun also wants to get rid of IGI. Blackstone was already mentioned as a potential buyer in March, in an article by the Indian business newspaper The Economic Times. The same newspaper wrote earlier this week that the deal with Blackstone was almost complete and that the announcement would not be long in coming.
Daughter
That appears to be correct, as is approximately the amount quoted by the newspaper: Friday, the listed Fosun subsidiary Shanghai Yuyuan Tourism Mall Group spread the news that Blackstone is buying 100 percent of IGI for $ 569.7 million. More than $ 110 million of this goes to the Lorie family. The price is about twice as high as the amounts previously circulated. That is striking, especially now that the diamond sector is once again facing a change with the latest G7 agreements on the sector.
With this size, the deal is one of the most important Belgian acquisitions of the year. The press release also provides insight into some of the financial results of IGI, which does not publish consolidated financial statements. The group posted a net profit of $34.5 million last year and had $83 million in assets against $24 million in liabilities. The buyer is BCP Asia II Topco, an Asian fund of Blackstone.
IGI joins the list of Belgian interests of the private equity giant. The West Flemish environmental technology group Desotec is also on the list, among others. Fosun is best known to us as the largest shareholder in the insurance group Ageas, as a shareholder in the diaper company Ontex and owner of the holiday company Club Med.