In response to the holding of the general meeting of the company IBBM on August 3 in Singapore to address this dismissal, the boards of directors of DF Holding and Cassiopée renew their confidence in the CEO of the Castel Group, Grégory Clerc, and refer to the expected outcome of the challenge brought before the Singaporean courts.
The crisis within the Castel Group is experiencing a new development. On August 3, 2026, while a general meeting of the company IBBM was convened to dismiss Grégory Clerc from his position as CEO of the Castel Group, the boards of directors of DF Holding and Cassiopée, the parent companies of the Castel Group, reaffirm their support for Grégory Clerc and Pierre Baer. For the third time in a few months, the IBBM general meeting insists on dismissing these directors even though a challenge to these dismissals remains pending in court.
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In a communication dated August 3, the boards of directors remind that Grégory Clerc’s mandate as a director within IBBM is unrelated to his functions as CEO of the group. And that the governance of IBBM does not concern operational functioning, management, let alone the strategic trajectory of the Castel Group. Therefore, the two boards in their statement this Monday say they reaffirm their full confidence in the leadership and management of Grégory Clerc in his capacity as CEO of the Castel Group. They also want him to continue under the best conditions to pursue the development of the Castel Group.
For members of the Cassiopée board of directors, Grégory Clerc is determinedly implementing the roadmap entrusted to him and the group’s results testify to the momentum engaged since he took office in 2023.
The crisis at the head of the Castel Group also concerns Romy Castel, daughter of the founder Pierre Castel. Last June, the board of directors of Somdia, an agri-food subsidiary holding 82% of the capital of the Société sucrière du Cameroun (Sosucam), dismissed her from her director mandate. She contests the strategy aimed at selling Somdia’s shares held in Sosucam by proposing an alternative to maintain Somdia as the majority shareholder of the sugar company. Her fight aims to remove Grégory Clerc from management on the grounds that his vision does not improve Somdia’s performance. This is not accepted by the holdings, which argue that Clerc is implementing the directives of the boards of directors.