Anglo American PLC, the Oppenheimer family and Botswana - the three main shareholders in South African diamond producer De Beers SA - have agreed in principle to inject up to $1 billion via a share placement, split into amounts of $450 million, $400 million, and $150 million respectively, according to a Financial Times report, citing people close to the De Beers diamond company, Dow Jones Newswires reported.



A consortium of 20 De Beers' lenders recently indicated refinancing terms that weren't favorable to the diamond company, the FT reported a person familiar with the matter as saying. That lead to the shareholders' decision in principle to combine an equity recapitalization with a debt refinancing, it said.



New equity could account for up to $1 billion of the $1.5 billion required debt refinancing, two people close to the diamond company confirmed, the FT said. It could also fall to $750 million or below, depending on lenders' terms, the FT reported.