French billionaire Pierre Castel's daughter wins court fight over his African beer empire

The daughter of French billionaire Pierre Castel has won a court ruling in Singapore in her fight with the chief executive of his African beer and wine empire, escalating a family battle over one of the biggest drinks businesses on the continent.

The Singapore High Court ruled on Oct. 2 that Romy Castel's votes to remove Castel Group Chief Executive Grégory Clerc and Pierre François Alec Baer from the board of Investment Beverage Business Management Pte Ltd., known as IBBM, were valid, according to the wine trade publications Vino Joy News and Vinetur. The court upheld resolutions passed at an extraordinary general meeting of the company on Feb. 2.

Romy Castel's side said the decision "upheld her voting rights." The full judgment had not been published as of Oct. 7, Business in Cameroon reported.

The ruling does not remove Clerc as chief executive of the group. Cassiopée and DF Holding, two of the group's main holding companies, said IBBM is not Castel's parent company, that the board changes do not transfer control and that they have "full confidence" in Clerc.

Who controls the empire

IBBM sits near the top of a complex ownership chain. It manages the Investment Beverage Business Fund, which was valued at about 8 billion Singapore dollars in July and owns 100% of Cassiopée. Cassiopée in turn owns DF Holding and the companies that run the group's breweries, wineries and sugar estates. A trustee, SG Trust (Asia), exercises the fund's rights on IBBM's instructions.

Romy Castel holds 24.33% of IBBM. Two allies, Gilles Martignac and Guy De Clercq, hold 24% each, giving the three a combined 72.33%.

The dispute is far from over. The fund's trustees are working to replace IBBM as fund manager, and have chosen a candidate. Romy Castel has gone to court to block the move.

A founder's succession

Pierre Castel, 99, founded the business in Bordeaux in 1949 and built it into a group with operations across France and Africa, where it is one of the largest brewers, through its BGI and SABC breweries and drinks such as 33 Export and Castel Beer. The group also owns wine brands in France and the sugar business Somdiaa. It reported revenue of 6.954 billion euros, about $7.8 billion, in 2025 and employs about 43,000 people.

Clerc, a former Swiss tax lawyer who became an adviser to the founder, became the first person outside the family to run the group in 2023. Romy Castel accuses him of accumulating too much power and shutting family members out of key information and decisions. His supporters say he is carrying out the founder's wish to separate the family's ownership from the management of the business.

The fight has already moved through Singapore's courts. In February the High Court barred Clerc and Baer from acting as IBBM directors while the case was heard, and later rejected their attempt to lift that order and allowed Romy Castel's camp to appoint three directors. The Monetary Authority of Singapore had warned that IBBM, which holds a capital markets services license, could not operate without an effective board after other directors resigned.

The family feud has spilled into Africa. In Cameroon, the government in August ordered the suspension of a planned sale of Somdiaa's stake in sugar producer Sosucam, which Romy Castel had publicly opposed.

Romy Castel has said she will work with her cousin Philippe Castel, who runs Castel Vins, and Alain Castel to develop the wine business.