French billionaire Pierre Castel's daughter ousted from three African beer boards

Romy Castel, the daughter of French billionaire Pierre Castel, has been removed from the boards of the three holding companies that control his African beer business, escalating her fight with the group's management over the future of one of Africa's biggest drinks empires.

Shareholders of Brasseries Internationales Holding Ltd., known as BIH, BIH Angola and Brasseries et Glacières Internationales, or BGI, voted to remove her as a director at general meetings on Nov. 3, DF Holding, the Luxembourg company that oversees the Castel Group's wine, beer and agribusiness operations, said in a statement the same day.

"After a thorough review of the situation, the Board of Directors of DF Holding considers that Ms Romy Castel's conduct is no longer aligned with the interests of the above-mentioned companies," the statement said. The board said "the trust and cooperation needed for her to serve as a director of BIH, BIH Angola and BGI no longer exist," and cited the duty of loyalty that every director owes to a board. It did not say what she had done.

The three companies sit at the top of Castel Afrique, the group's African drinks division. BIH, registered in Gibraltar, oversees breweries in the Republic of Congo, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Chad, Mali, Guinea and Togo. BIH Angola runs the group's beverage and glass businesses in Angola. BGI, a French company, controls operations in Cameroon, Gabon, Ivory Coast, Senegal, Benin, Burkina Faso and the Central African Republic, along with a glass plant in Cameroon. Singapore-based Cassiopée owns 80% of BIH and BIH Angola, and Copagef, a French subsidiary of DF Holding, controls 80% of BGI.

Fifth board seat lost this year

The removals are the latest in a series. Romy Castel lost her seat on the board of the group's wine business, Castel Vins, on June 26, and was removed from the board of its sugar and agribusiness arm, Somdiaa, on June 30.

People close to her rejected the decision in a statement on Nov. 3. They said the DF Holding board, which they described as under the authority of Chief Executive Officer Grégory Clerc, had accused her of conduct that was no longer "aligned" without citing "a fact, a date or a document," and said the move was meant to push the founder's daughter out of the group's governance.

A battle in Singapore

The feud centers on Clerc, a Swiss lawyer and longtime adviser to Pierre Castel who in 2023 became the first person from outside the family to run the group. Romy Castel accuses him of concentrating power and shutting family members out of key decisions. His supporters say he is carrying out the founder's wish to separate the family's ownership from the running of the business.

Much of the fight has played out in Singapore, where the group's ownership structure is based. The Investment Beverage Business Fund owns 99.5% of Cassiopée, which in turn owns all of DF Holding. The fund is managed by Investment Beverage Business Management Pte Ltd., or IBBM. On Oct. 2, Singapore's High Court upheld votes by Romy Castel and two allies, who together hold 72.33% of IBBM, to remove Clerc and fellow director Pierre Baer from IBBM's board at a meeting in February.

The ruling did not remove Clerc as chief executive. The boards of DF Holding and Cassiopée say IBBM is not the group's parent company and have backed him. The fund's trustees are now working to replace IBBM as manager, and Romy Castel has asked a Singapore court to block the move.

Pierre Castel founded the group in Bordeaux in 1949 and built it into one of France's largest wine companies and one of Africa's biggest brewers, with brands such as 33 Export and Castel Beer. He bought BGI, which traces its roots to a brewing company founded in French Indochina in 1927, in 1990. DF Holding reported combined revenue of €6.5 billion ($7.3 billion) for its three divisions in 2024, and 41,238 employees at the end of that year.

Figures were converted at €1 to $1.12.