The power struggle over the privately-held French beverage giant Castel Group has reached a new level of public confrontation. On August 28 and 29, opposing factions of the founding family released conflicting declarations regarding their support for current chief executive Grégory Clerc. These contradictory announcements have further obscured which camp truly commands majority backing within the company's complex ownership structure.
The current escalation began on August 28 when an unsigned release, purportedly representing four of the five family branches, called for stability and expressed full support for Clerc's leadership. The company’s wealth structure, established by 99-year-old founder Pierre Castel, divides assets equally across five branches via a Singapore-based trust framework. According to this initial release, Romy Castel, the founder's only daughter and a primary critic of the CEO, spoke for merely one of these branches.
This narrative was strongly contested the following day. Romy Castel, along with Alain Castel and Philippe Castel, issued a joint response asserting they were neither consulted on nor supportive of the previous day's declaration. They challenged the legitimacy of the initial message, arguing that it was backed by only parts of two branches rather than four, thereby rejecting the claim that Clerc enjoys broad family support.
The public dispute is the latest chapter in a bitter governance conflict that emerged in late 2025. Romy and Alain Castel have consistently accused Clerc, a Swiss tax lawyer who became the first non-family executive to lead the group in 2023, of marginalizing the founding family and consolidating excessive power. Clerc’s supporters, however, maintain that his appointment and the current management setup reflect Pierre Castel's intent to separate day-to-day operations from family ownership.
This discord previously resulted in contentious corporate meetings and legal actions. On January 8, 2026, dissident family members tried to dismiss Clerc during an extraordinary gathering of Investment Beverage Business Management (IBBM), the entity managing the family's investment funds in Singapore. The move failed due to procedural reasons [(inside.beer, 08.01.2026)]. Shortly thereafter, on February 2, Romy and Alain Castel claimed that a 70% shareholder majority had voted to oust Clerc and IBBM chairman Pierre Baer. The board subsequently invalidated these resolutions, leaving Clerc in his position [(inside.beer, 03.02.2026)].
Legal proceedings in Singapore have added further complexity. While a court issued an interim injunction preventing Clerc and Baer from serving as IBBM directors—a ruling upheld by the High Court on July 30—Clerc's position as the CEO of the Castel Group remains legally unaffected [(inside.beer, 03.08.2026)].
Amidst these legal battles, the company's management has actively curtailed the challengers' influence within the operating businesses. By late June 2026, Romy and Alain Castel were removed from the board of the group's historic French wine division, and Romy was dismissed as a director of the agricultural subsidiary. The conflict has also triggered criminal allegations, with Clerc accusing Romy Castel of forging a signature—a claim she denies and has countered with her own legal proceedings.
Operating major breweries and maintaining market leadership in several African nations, including Cameroon, Angola, and Côte d'Ivoire, Castel Group employs over 40,000 people. The ongoing leadership crisis continues to cast uncertainty over one of the continent's most significant brewing empires.
