The disputed outcome marks a a new point of contention in the escalating clash between Clerc and the Castel family
Published Mon, Feb 2, 2026 · 07:23 PM — Updated Mon, Feb 2, 2026 · 11:01 PM
[SINGAPORE] The clash between the top executive of the billionaire Castel family’s eponymous firm and two heirs took an unexpected turn after the two sides disputed the outcome of a shareholders’ meeting.
On Monday (Feb 2), the Castel family said in a statement that chief executive officer Gregory Clerc had been revoked by a “qualified majority” as a director of Singapore-based Investment Beverage Business Management (IBBM), a key entity of the group. The chairman of the entity, Pierre struggle over operational control of the Castel empire, which distributes beer and wine around the globe.
The outcome of the extraordinary shareholders’ meeting on Monday “marks the beginning of a new era of governance for the Castel Group,” the family said in its statement, adding that they “intend to draw all the necessary conclusions from these dismissals” as a first step to restructuring governance.
For its part, IBBM said the resolutions that failed to pass were aimed at amending the company’s constitution along with removing the directors. It said the directors would continue to work according to the “principles and ideals of the founder of the Castel Group, Mr Pierre Castel.”
The disputed outcome marks a new point of contention in an increasingly fierce clash between Clerc and the family members.
The descendants have criticised Clerc’s strategic vision and what they say is his attempt to gain control. For his part, the tax-lawyer-turned CEO has rejected their claims and said he has a broad mandate from the founder to run the firm independently from the clan.
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At a previous shareholders’ meeting in January, Romy Castel failed to remove Clerc and vowed to try again.
Castel Group, which had sales of about 6.5 billion euros (S$9.8 billion) in 2024 from its sprawling beer, wine and agricultural operations, is owned through a series of holding companies that culminate in a Singapore-based trust.
Pierre Castel, who started out as a vineyard worker in the Bordeaux region, built up the conglomerate over more than seven decades and was until a few years ago its public face. But his penchant for discretion and use of holding companies on different continents made operations difficult to track. It spans a wine business that started in France and includes chateaus, vineyards and the Nicolas brand of stores, and the much larger brewing and soda operation focused on Africa, with dozens of beer brands.
Clerc represented Pierre Castel during a dispute with Swiss tax authorities that went to court and led to the company founder paying out a fine of more than 350 million euros. France is now investigating the group’s tax practices. BLOOMBERG
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