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French billionaire Pierre Castel's agri-food unit Somdia is close to completing the sale of its stake in Société Sucrière du Cameroun, or Sosucam, the Central African country's main sugar producer, after months of family infighting and talks with the government in Yaounde.
Somdia has nearly cleared the final obstacles to the deal, Africa Intelligence reported on Nov. 13.
The buyer is a consortium of five Cameroonian investors that signed an agreement with Somdia on Aug. 13 to take over 82% of Sosucam, the whole of Somdia's holding. The group is made up of Joseph Pagop Noupoué, a business lawyer who chairs the board of London-listed Savannah Energy Plc; Henriette Noutchougouin, who heads the Noutchogouin Jean Samuel group; William Nkontchou, co-founder of investment firm AFIIP; Igor Djoukwé, a former executive at Compagnie Sucrière Sénégalaise; and Marcel Tchagongom, a former senior partner at EY in Cameroon.
The price has not been disclosed. The buyers have set out a multi-year investment plan of €210 million (CFA137.7 billion, or about $235 million) for the company, whose sugar estates sit around Mbandjock and Nkoteng in the Centre region.
A family dispute
The sale has exposed a rift inside the Castel empire. Romy Castel, the founder's daughter, publicly opposed the disposal in June, saying she learned of the plan "with astonishment" and accusing Gregory Clerc, the group's chief executive, of betraying her father's vision. DF Holding, the family holding company at the top of the group, later removed her as a director of Somdia.
Cameroon's government also weighed in, requiring Somdia to guarantee the 2026-2027 sugar campaign so that production and jobs at the plantations would be protected during the handover. Talks between Somdia and the authorities later resumed, and the state, Somdia, the consortium and Sosucam's management are expected to work together through a transition period.
Castel's African bet
Castel built his fortune in Bordeaux wine before expanding into beer and soft drinks across Africa, where the group has become one of the continent's largest brewers. In Cameroon, it controls Société Anonyme des Brasseries du Cameroun, the country's biggest brewer, alongside its sugar interests.
The Sosucam exit would leave the group's Cameroonian business focused on drinks, even as the founder's family fights over who will steer the empire after him.
Figures were converted at CFA586 to the dollar.
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