Billionaire Lev Leviev has sold his 18% stake in the Catoca Diamond Mine in Angola, Russia's Kommersant newspaper reports.

The report said that Leviev, who originally acquired his share of Catoca in the 1990s for some $20 million, has sold it to China Sonangol International Ltd for some $400 million. The deal, which is expected to be finalized in June, will make China Sonangol the first Chinese company to own a diamond deposit in Africa.

Russia's state-owned diamond producer, Alrosa, owns 32.8% of Catoca, and Alrosa CEO Fyodor Andreyev has informed Russian Finance Minister Alexi Kudrin of the sale of Leviev's stake. Endiama, the joint diamond mining venture between De Beers and the Angolan government, also owns 32.8% of the Catoca mine, and Brazil's Odebrecht holds a 16.4% interest.

In 2010, Catoca sold over $527 million of rough diamonds and recorded a net profit of $111 million.