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PRS for Music and IPRS reach licensing agreement for Apple Fitness+ launch in India

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23 December 2025

PRS for Music and IPRS reach licensing agreement for Apple Fitness+ launch in India

PRS for Music has struck a licensing agreement with the Indian Performing Right Society (IPRS) for Apple Fitness+ as the workout service enters India.

Under the agreement announced Friday (December 19), IPRS will license the service in India while PRS for Music will handle processing, matching reported music usage with registered works and distributing royalties to songwriters and publishers through its cloud systems.

The structure seeks to eliminate unnecessary currency conversions and speed up payments to rightsholders. Instead of routing money through multiple channels, the structure creates a more direct path from Apple to music creators.

Sami Valkonen, Chief International Business Officer for PRS for Music, said: “We’re excited to collaborate with IPRS, our partner rightsholders, and Apple Fitness+ on this innovative approach to digital licensing.”

“This is a blueprint for how cross-border licensing can work at scale. By combining local expertise with global PRS’s global processing capability, we’re creating a faster, fairer route for royalties to reach creators wherever their music is used.”

”By combining local expertise with global PRS’s global processing capability, we’re creating a faster, fairer route for royalties to reach creators wherever their music is used.”

Sami Valkonen, PRS for Music

“As part of our drive to ensure digital services are licensed wherever they operate, partnerships like this will be key in expediting the licensing, collecting and distribution of royalties to the correct rightsholders.”

IPRS CEO Rakesh Nigam added: “We’re pleased to partner with PRS for Music to support the launch of Apple Fitness+ in India. This collaboration highlights our shared commitment to facilitating the licensing of digital services while ensuring songwriters and composers are fairly represented and paid in the expanding service offerings depending on music as a key component.”

The arrangement is critical because Apple Fitness+ leans heavily on music. The service costs $9.99 per month or $79.99 annually in the US. In India, new subscribers are offered one month of free subscription and 149 rupees ($1.66) per month thereafter. An annual subscription costs 999 rupees ($11.14).

Fitness+ users can explore workouts and meditation content with music from artists including Taylor Swift, Bad Bunny, Kendrick Lamar and Beyoncé.

“This collaboration highlights our shared commitment to facilitating the licensing of digital services while ensuring songwriters and composers are fairly represented and paid in the expanding service offerings depending on music as a key component.”

Rakesh Nigam, IPRS

Apple Fitness+ also offers an Audio Focus feature that lets users adjust volume between trainer instruction and music during workouts, as well as personalized recommendations, letting users see recommendations based on their favorite activities, trainers, durations and music.

Apple launched Fitness+ in 2020 and now operates in nearly 50 countries, according to the product’s dedicated webpage. The service offers 12 different types of workouts including strength, yoga, HIIT, pilates, dance, cycling, kickboxing and meditation.

Commenting on the India launch earlier this month, Jay Blahnik, Apple’s vice president of Fitness Technologies, said: “Through its seamless integration across Apple devices, Fitness+ has helped inspire users to live a healthier day.”

“From seeing real-time, personal metrics right onscreen with Apple Watch or AirPods Pro 3, to the ability to bring the service with you wherever you go on iPhone or iPad, we’re delivering unmatched motivation to users. We couldn’t be more excited to bring this experience to even more users around the globe with our biggest expansion yet.”

Apple hinted at a Japan launch for Fitness+ “beginning early next year.”

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Two International Swimmers, Cindy Wu and Olivia Emmett, Join Harvard Women’s Swimming Team for 2026-27 Season

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23 December 2025

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Two International Swimmers, Cindy Wu and Olivia Emmett, Join Harvard Women’s Swimming Team for 2026-27 Season

By Anne Lepesant on SwimSwam

Fitter and Faster Swim Camps is the proud sponsor of SwimSwam’s College Recruiting Channel and all commitment news. For many, swimming in college is a lifelong dream that is pursued with dedication and determination. Fitter and Faster is proud to honor these athletes and those who supported them on their journey.

Cindy Wu from Shanghai, China, and Olivia Emmett from Cambridge, New Zealand, will join the Harvard Crimson in 2026-27.

Both Harvard’s men’s and women’s teams have become increasingly more international over the last few recruiting cycles. Wu and Emmett’s addition will bring the overseas tally to 43% of Harvard women’s class of 2030. They will join swimmers Clare Custer, Emma Miner, Frances Muir, and Malia Ma, and diver Victoria Wang on the Crimson roster next fall.

Cindy Wu

Wu swims for her school, Shanghai Star River Bilingual School, and specializes mainly in sprint free, fly, and IM. She trained and competed with Irvine Novaquatics in the summer of 2024, swimming at Los Angeles Invite, Fullerton Sectionals, and Speedo Summer Championships. At LAI, she came in 9th in the 50 free (26.43), 11th in the 100 free (57.58), 7th in the 200 free (PB of 2:03.57), and 17th in the 100 fly (1:03.35). Two weeks later, in Fullerton, she won the 100 free (57.11), 100 fly (PB of 1:02.62), and 200 IM (PB of 2:21.62). She wrapped up the summer in Irvine, placing 25th in the 50 free (26.10), 26th in the 100 free (57.07), and 26th in the 200 free (PB of 2:03.16).

Wu’s best times, converted, would have scored in the ‘A’ finals of the 50 free, 100 free, and 200 free at the 2025 Ivy League Women’s Championships.

Best LCM times (converted):

50 free – 26.01 (22.71)
100 free – 56.92 (49.83)
200 free – 2:03.16 (1:48.07)
100 fly – 1:02.62 (55.15)
200 IM – 2:21.62 (2:04.70)

Olivia Emmett

“I’m so excited to announce my verbal commitment to the admissions process at Harvard University to continue my academic and athletic careers! Thank you to my coaches, teachers, friends and also my dedicated family – this wouldn’t have been possible without you. I’d also like to thank Coach Amanda and Coach Geordie for this incredible opportunity and for making this dream a reality. I can’t wait to join the @harvardwswimdive family. GO CRIMSON! ”

Emmett attends Cambridge High School and swims for Club 37. She is also a freestyle specialist, but her sweet spot is more in the middle-distance range. In September, she won the 200 free (2:02.32) and 400 free (4:13.82) and was runner-up in the 800 free (8:53.79) at the New Zealand Short Course Championships. She achieved PBs in all three of those events (2:01.12/ 4:13.04/ 8:43.15) at the 2024 New Zealand Short Course Championships, where she was crowned triple national champion in the 16 years age category.

Her best long-course performances date from the 2024 New Zealand Age Group Championships. She won the 16 years title in the 200 free (2:04.14), 400 free (4:22.35), and 800 free (9:01.12), and was runner-up in the 100 free (58.00) and 1500 free (17:19.51).

Emmett’s best converted times would have scored for the Crimson in the ‘A’ final of the 500 free and the ‘B’ final of the 200 free at last year’s conference championships.

Best SCM times (converted):

200 free – 2:01.12 (1:49.11)
400 free – 4:13.04 (4:49.18)
800 free – 8:43.15 (9:57.88)

*Note: A verbal commitment between an Ivy League coach and a prospective student-athlete is not an offer of admission, as only the Admission Office has that authority. The coach can only commit his or her support in the admission process. Ivy League Admission Offices do not issue “Likely Letters” before October 1 of the prospective student-athlete’s senior year of high school. The Likely Letter, while issued after an initial read of the student’s application, is not an offer of admission to the university.

If you have a commitment to report, please send an email with a photo (landscape, or horizontal, looks best) and a quote to Recruits@swimswam.com.

About the Fitter and Faster Swim Tour

Fitter & Faster Swim Camps feature the most innovative teaching platforms for competitive swimmers of all levels. Camps are produced year-round throughout the USA and Canada. All camps are led by elite swimmers and coaches. Visit fitterandfaster.com to find or request a swim camp near you.

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Read the full story on SwimSwam: Harvard Women Add 2 International Swimmers for 2026-27: Cindy Wu and Olivia Emmett

Man to Cycle Trimaran Globally for Charity

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23 December 2025

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Man to Cycle Trimaran Globally for Charity

Back in 2009, a friend bet British cyclist Paul Spencer that he couldn’t ride his bike the length of the British Isles in less than a week. Spencer took up the challenge, and completed the route – from Land’s End in England to John O’ Groats village in Scotland – in just four days.

Accomplishing this feat inspired him to make other epic cycling trips over the years, including multiple treks across Europe, North America and Africa. He broke three Guinness World Records in the process.

You might think Paul would be satiated at this point, but it turns out all of that long-distance cycling merely whetted his appetite. He now plans on going all the way around the world, pedaling across almost every continent (except Australia and Antarctica) along with the stretches of ocean in between.

Spencer always raises money for the Lupus Foundation, as his sister has lived with the condition her entire life

Spencer will be raising funds for the Lupus Foundation during his Pedal Round The World journey, while also attempting to set a new Guinness Record for the Fastest Human-Powered Circumnavigation of the Globe. While the current record stands at five years and 11 days, he hopes to make the trip in about three years.

“Riding a bike lets you see the world up close,” he tells us. “People, moments, small details you’d never notice at speed.”

But let’s back up a bit … how is he going to pedal across all that open water? Well, he’ll be using a one-of-a-kind ocean-going trimaran pedal boat known as the Pedal Beast.

Captain Spencer takes command of his ship

Previously named the Tasman Rower, the 38-ft (11.6-m) carbon-fiber-bodied craft was originally designed by New Zealand company LOMOcean Marine Ltd in 2012, and was built by fellow Kiwi firm Pachoud Yachts. And yes, as the boat’s name suggests, it started out as a rowboat.

Plans had called for it to be used for a record-breaking crossing of the Tasman Strait (aka Bass Strait) between Australia and Tasmania, although the trip was cancelled due to rower injury. In fact, LOMOcean designed a similar rowboat – the Samson – which was intended to make a transatlantic crossing which also never happened.

The Tasman Rower ended up in need of a new home, and it caught Spencer’s eye on the LOMOcean website. He traveled to New Zealand in 2019 and met with Craig Loomes, director of LOMOcean and designer of the watercraft.

Loomes informed him that not only was the Tasman Rower a very good candidate for a pedal-drive conversion, but that pedal drive would be a better way to go than rowing for circumnavigating the globe.

“Pedal propulsion compared to conventional rowing with oars is significantly more efficient overall,” says Loomes. “This is due to pedaling being a continuous cycle. The rowing cycle is reciprocating, with much of the rower’s energy being wasted on the recovery stroke, not to mention energy required to guide the oars in ocean sea conditions. Wind resistance drag from the oar blades on the recovery stroke is another factor that is eliminated with pedal propeller propulsion.”

Indeed, pedaling was the propulsion form of choice on watercraft such as a kayak designed to travel from Canada to Hawaii, a canoe-ish thing made to go down the River Thames to the North Sea, and an amphibious wheeled vehicle that successfully crossed the Atlantic Ocean.

The Pedal Beast's partially submerged propellers can be seen in the back — The Pedal Beast’s partially submerged propellers can be seen in the back

That said, LOMOcean’s setup is claimed to be even more efficient than other pedal propulsion systems.

This is partially because its crankset incorporates a high-inertia flywheel that compensates for the lower-torque “dead zones” in each pedaling revolution, thus removing “the otherwise inefficient stop-start pulse the pedaler would otherwise have to endure,” according to Loomes.

Additionally, the shafts and hubs of the two counter-rotating propellers are located above the water’s surface. Although this design might seem counterintuitive at first (“Why aren’t the props all the way underwater?!”), it’s said to greatly reduce hydrodynamic drag, and to allow for the use of large-diameter high-aspect-ratio propeller blades.

It was even utilized on the Turanor PlanetSolar catamaran, which was the first-ever photovoltaic vehicle to circle the globe. You can see the Pedal Beast using it, in the following video.

Human-Powered Circumnavigation: The CRAZIEST Pedal Boat Sea Trial!

Spencer did indeed buy the Tasman Rower, renamed it, and is now in the process of getting it fully outfitted for use on his odyssey.

Along with the pedal drive system, some of the additions include side panels (with openable windows) to enclose the rear cabin; a front daggerboard that can be lifted or lowered to help the trimaran track straight as needed; deck-mounted solar panels and a communications mast; a full satellite communications and navigation system; a custom recumbent pedaling seat; plus a separate lifeboat.

A rendering of the planned expedition-ready version of the Pedal Beast

Over the course of the ~50,000-mile (80,467-km) complete trip, plans call for the Pedal Beast to be pedaled over a total of 10,000 miles (16,093 km). In between the aquatic legs of the journey, it will be loaded into a 40-ft (12.2-m) shipping container which will be towed on a trailer to the next port on the route. Paul, of course, will have to ride a bike between ports.

Although Pedal Round The World was originally supposed to commence in 2021, it had to be pushed back because of the pandemic. It’s now expected to begin early in 2027 starting in Colorado, which is where Spencer now lives and works as a ski instructor and home builder.

As of December 2025, Paul Spencer is conducting sea trials aboard the Pedal Beast in New Zealand

“I once looked at doing the Guinness ‘Cycle around the world’ record, but the rules allow flying over oceans. That felt wrong,” he says. “You can’t say you cycled around the world if you flew half of it. So I created my own solution: If I can’t bike across the oceans, I’ll pedal across them.”

Paul is now raising funds for his big trip via another smaller trip in which he will be using the Pedal Beast for what it was originally made for – traversing the Tasman Strait. You can sponsor him on his GoFundMe page.

Source: YesHesMad

Town ravaged by wildfire wins €468 million in Spain’s annual Christmas lottery

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23 December 2025

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Town ravaged by wildfire wins €468 million in Spain’s annual Christmas lottery

Spain’s Christmas lottery has been welcomed as an “injection of hope” in the northwest of the country, where the jackpot handed out hundreds of millions of euros just months after wildfires had caused devastation.

Most of the first-prize-winning tickets in the lottery, known as El Gordo, had been bought by people in small towns in the province of León.

A single ticket, or décimo, costing €20 (£17), is worth €400,000 (£349,484) if it bears the winning number, in this case 79432. Décimos come in strips of 10 and when many strips of the same number are sold to a group of neighbours or workmates, there is potential for a massive jackpot.

People in the town of La Bañeza shared out €468m (£409m).

Among the recipients were members of a local football club in the town, which has a population of around 11,000.

The jackpot came four months after forest fires had torn through León, burning 8,000 hectares (31 sq miles) of land surrounding La Bañeza and killing a local man, 35-year-old Abel Ramos.

The sparsely populated, heavily forested north-west of Spain is used to wildfires, although during this record-breaking year, the area was particularly severely affected. Firefighters battled enormous blazes in León and the neighbouring Galicia region throughout much of August and during the summer 0.8 percent of the country’s total surface area was burned.

According to the mayor of the town, Javier Carrera, the lottery win “means for La Bañeza an injection of excitement and hope,” he told Spanish media. Carrera also mentioned the closure this year of a local sugar-beet factory which caused the loss of dozens of jobs.

Another town in the León province that was heavily affected by the summer’s fires, Villablino, also took a massive share of the jackpot, receiving €200 million (£175m).

“We needed some good news,” said the mayor, Mario Rivas.

On top of the blazes, five local men were killed in two separate mining accidents in nearby Asturias this year.

“It doesn’t make up for the loss of the lives of our friends, but this shows us that there can also be good news,” said Rivas.

Most of the winning tickets in Villablino were sold by a local Alzheimer’s association.

In addition, the town of La Pola de Gordón, also in León and with a population of 3,000, shared out 60 million euros. Sixty-four million euros of jackpot money also went to a working-class district in Madrid.

In Villablino, Maribel Martín had one of the winning décimos, worth €400,000 (£349,484). She was out doing grocery shopping when her son called her to give her the good news.

“We were really down and 200 million euros is a wonderful thing,” she said

She is clear what she wants to do with the prize money. “Spread it around a bit and enjoy life,” she said.

Challenge from the Client

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22 December 2025

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Client Challenge

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South Africa secures victory over Angola in AFCON opener with late goal from Foster

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22 December 2025

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South Africa secures victory over Angola in AFCON opener with late goal from Foster

Lyle Foster’s match-winning 79th-minute strike allowed South Africa to win first opening match at AFCON since 2004.

Published On 22 Dec 2025

Lyle Foster scored a superb winner from outside the box as South Africa defeated Angola 2-1 in Africa Cup of Nations Group B in Marrakesh on Monday, the first time they have won their opening match ⁠at the continental finals in 21 years.

South Africa also had a goal disallowed and struck the crossbar, just about deserving the nervy victory. Angola also had chances and will ‍be disappointed not to have gotten something from the game.

Even first half

South Africa took the lead after a period of sustained possession that led to Khuliso Mudau’s cross, which was ‌touched by both Sipho Mbule and Foster before Appollis beat two ⁠defenders and side-footed into the bottom corner of the net.

Angola equalised on 35 minutes when Fredy’s low free kick was touched into the bottom corner by Show, his second goal in his 50th cap for his country, to make it ‌1-1 at the break.

South Africa thought they had retaken the lead when halftime substitute Tshepang Moremi turned his defender and fired low into the bottom corner of the net, but a VAR review showed ‍that Foster was offside in the buildup.

South Africa’s Mbekezeli Mbokazi crashed the ball against the crossbar with a rasping shot from 35 yards, before Foster’s clinical strike secured all three points.

Zambia rally to draw with Mali

In an earlier Group A match on Monday, Zambia’s Patson Daka scored with a spectacular diving header in stoppage time to see his ‍side come from behind ‍and force a 1-1 draw with Mali in Casablanca.

Mali looked in control for most of the encounter, but paid the price for sitting back in the closing stages as Zambia staged a ⁠late recovery, with Daka leaping through the air to force home Mathews Banda’s curling cross two minutes into stoppage time at the end of the game.

Lassine Sinayoko had ‌taken advantage of sloppy defending to give ‌Mali a 62nd-minute lead ⁠after his strike partner, El Bilal Toure, had a first-half penalty saved.

Patson Daka reacts. — Zambia’s forward Patson Daka celebrates scoring his team’s equalising goal in the 90th minute against Mali at Mohammed V Stadium in Casablanca, Morocco on December 22, 2025 [Abdel Majid Bziouat/AFP]

US agriculture agency sheds 20,000 employees in the first five months of Trump administration

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22 December 2025

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US agriculture agency sheds 20,000 employees in the first five months of Trump administration

US farm agency lost 20,000 staff in first five months of Trump administration

Baby Siwar readmitted to Gaza hospital after receiving treatment in Jordan

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22 December 2025

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Baby Siwar readmitted to Gaza hospital after receiving treatment in Jordan

Fergal KeaneSpecial correspondent

BBC Siwar Ashour — Siwar Ashour spent six months in Jordan after being evacuated from Gaza

A one-year-old Palestinian girl evacuated from Gaza with severe nutritional problems is back in hospital in the territory after being returned there from Jordan. Siwar Ashour, whose story the BBC has followed for several months, was repatriated to Gaza on 3 December after completing her medical treatment in Amman.

She’d spent six months in hospital there under a medical evacuation programme run by the Kingdom of Jordan. Her grandmother, Sahar Ashour, said she became ill three days after coming back.

“She started having diarrhoea and vomiting and her situation keeps getting worse. The diarrhoea won’t go away,” she told a freelance journalist working for the BBC in Gaza. International journalists have been banned by Israel from entering Gaza independently since the start of the war nearly two years ago.

Siwar is being treated at al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in the central Gaza Strip where Dr Khalil al-Daqran told the BBC she is “receiving the necessary treatment, but the situation is still bad for her”. The doctor said Siwar was suffering from a gastro-intestinal infection. She has an immune system deficiency which makes it hard for her to fight bacteria. She also struggles to absorb nutrition, meaning she requires specialised baby formula.

Dr Khalil al-Daqran said poor hygiene conditions had disease to spread

Dr Daqran said that hospitals in Gaza – many of which were badly damaged by Israeli bombing and fighting nearby with Hamas before a ceasefire took effect in October – were seeing an increase in child admissions. Poor hygiene conditions caused by the destruction of vital infrastructure have led to the spread of infections and disease.

“Since the ceasefire was announced, the number of child patients arriving at Gaza Strip hospitals is three times the capacity… The situation at al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital is no different from other hospitals in the Gaza Strip.

“It suffers from a severe shortage of medicines and medical supplies, and a major shortage regarding electric generators, which are the main artery to keep a hospital going.”

The World Health Organization (WHO) described humanitarian needs in Gaza as “staggering, with current assistance addressing only the most basic survival requirements”.

Siwar was evacuated to Jordan in June after the BBC reported on her case and raised it directly with the Jordanian authorities.

Jordan’s Minister of Communications, Dr Mohammed al-Momani, told us that Siwar was among 45 children returned to Gaza after completing their treatment. Under the evacuation scheme all patients are sent back after medical attention.

I put it to Dr al-Momani that people might find it hard to accept that a child in such a vulnerable condition could be sent back to Gaza in the current conditions.

“No patient is sent back before they finish their medical treatment… the first reason [why they are returned] is that this will allow us to bring more patients from Gaza. We cannot take all of them at once. We have to take them in batches. So far we have taken 18 batches.

“The second reason is that we don’t want to contribute in any shape or form to the displacement of Palestinians from their land and all patients are told… after treatment you are sent back so other patients and other children can be brought in for treatment.”

Dr Mohammed al-Momani says patients are sent back from Jordan after medical treatment to allow authorities to bring in new patients from Gaza

Dr Mohammed al-Momani says patients are sent back from Jordan after medical treatment to allow authorities to bring in new patients from Gaza

Jordan also treats war wounded at its field hospital in Gaza and has supplied aid via air drops and road convoys. The kingdom hosts more than 2 million Palestinian refugees, who fled conflicts with Israel since 1948, and 500,000 refugees from other countries, mostly Syrians.

Since last March some 300 sick and wounded children and 730 parents and guardians have been brought to Jordan out of 2000 scheduled for treatment. Other countries in the region like the United Arab Emirates and Turkey have treated thousands of sick civilians from Gaza.

The specialised formula milk Siwar needs was either not available or in very short supply during the ongoing conflict. In March, Israel imposed a total blockade on aid into Gaza that was lifted partially after 11 weeks. Since the ceasefire there has been a surge in aid deliveries, although the UN and aid agencies say not enough humanitarian supplies are flowing.

Siwar’s family are trying to get her evacuated once more due to her condition

Siwar Ashour pictured in her bed — Siwar’s family are trying to get her evacuated once more due to her condition

The Jordanian authorities gave Siwar’s family a supply of 12 cans of the hypoallergenic Neocate formula on their departure for Gaza. However her mother Najwa told us that Israeli officials confiscated much of what they’d been given – nine of their 12 cans were taken.

“They told us, ‘It is forbidden to take more than these cans,'” said Siwar’s mother, Najwa Ashour. “Even though it is therapeutic milk and they said that treatment is allowed, yet they took them.”

She also said that extra clothing the family had been given in Jordan was taken. “They searched us from top to bottom. When they saw us wearing clothes over each other [layered] they refused to let us out, and told us, ‘You must take off all the clothes, down to one outfit.'”

I asked the Israeli government why the milk formula and clothing were confiscated? They replied that limits were placed on what could be taken back for “security considerations.”

They said only minimal luggage was allowed and this had been conveyed to the Jordanian authorities and the returning families. “In cases where the luggage exceeded the approved scope, its entry was denied.”

The WHO has appealed for more countries to offer medical evacuation to patients who cannot get the necessary treatment in Gaza.

It has also called on the Israeli government to allow patients to be treated in occupied East Jerusalem and the West Bank “which is the most time and cost effective route.” Israel stopped allowing such evacuations after the Hamas-led 7 October attacks on Israel in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 abducted into Gaza.

Cogat, the Israeli military bosy in charge of aid, said the process for Gazan residents’ departure to third countries had been substantially eased.

Siwar’s family has been given Neocate milk formula since returning to Gaza. There have also been donations of money, including funds raised from online appeals. Jordanian representatives in Gaza have also visited the family to provide assistance.

The Ashours are trying to have Siwar evacuated once more – a process that has begun with the issuing of a permit by Palestinian health officials. It will be managed by the WHO which deals with all evacuation requests from a place the UN calls “a wasteland”.

With additional reporting by Malak Hassouneh, Suha Kawar and Alice Doyard.

Billionaire Castel’s daughter demands removal of CEO in acrimonious split

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22 December 2025

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Billionaire Castel’s daughter demands removal of CEO in acrimonious split

An increasingly acrimonious dispute over the direction of French billionaire Pierre Castel’s drinks conglomerate burst into full public view after a pair of heirs demanded the group CEO’s resignation and organized a vote aimed at ousting him.

Romy Castel, daughter of the 99-year-old founder, and Alain Castel, his nephew, told Bloomberg News they deeply disagree with the way Chief Executive Officer Gregory Clerc is running the wine and beer conglomerate and the power they say he’s amassed.

Clerc “is attempting to take control,” Romy Castel, 51, said in a telephone interview, referring to a move by the CEO earlier this month to remove Alain Castel from two company boards.

In a separate statement, Alain Castel, 65, questioned Clerc’s strategic vision and ability to effectively run the group, which has a workforce of 43,000.

“For me and my family, it has become vital that Mr. Clerc fully appreciate the situation and realize that his resignation is the best solution,” he said.

The closely held Castel Group, which had sales of about €6.5 billion ($7.6 billion) last year from its globe-spanning wine, beer and agricultural operations, has been torn in recent months by internal strife that has pitted key members of the family against Clerc. As the first outsider to oversee operations within the secretive empire, the dispute highlights the risks of generational change within family-controlled companies.

In a statement, the eponymous Castel Group said that Clerc rejects the family members’ claims and added that he remains focused on his mandate to develop and grow the company “within a framework of demanding and responsible governance.”

The website of another company in the group, Castel Afrique, posted a message saying that the board of Castel Group had met in Luxembourg on Dec. 11 and backed Clerc.

The acrimony is escalating at a time when the founder’s health has been faltering. Pierre Castel remained the public face of the businesses until a few years ago, and Clerc was named CEO in 2023 after serving as the founder’s tax lawyer in Switzerland.

The extent of the Castel fortune and the group’s labyrinthine corporate structure came to light through a tax dispute that the billionaire lost on appeal. A Swiss federal court ruled in a July 2023 decision that the businessman had evaded taxes as a longstanding resident in the country. Castel was fined more than €350 million.

Tax Probe

While the Swiss legal procedure is over, a tax probe by French authorities is ongoing, according to Romy Castel.

The power struggle within the conglomerate surfaced earlier this month when Alain Castel, who heads the wine arm of the group, Castel-Vins, said he was removed from the board of a Luxembourg-based holding company, D.F. Holding, as well as Cassiopee Pte. Ltd., a Singapore-based entity that is higher up in the corporate structure. Clerc has seats on both boards.

D.F. Holding is wholly owned by Cassiopee, which is ultimately controlled by Investment Beverage Business Fund, also in the city state.

In his statement, Alain Castel said “deep disagreement” with Clerc has been simmering since his arrival as CEO, adding that one trigger was a survey carried out that he claims hurt a number of projects.

Romy Castel said she has convened an extraordinary general meeting in Singapore on Jan. 8 of Investment Beverage Business Management, or IBBM, the fund management vehicle, to seek Clerc’s removal as director.

A recent filing for that company lists Romy Castel, a French national based in Switzerland, as a shareholder, alongside another of her father’s nephews, Michel Palu. The other shareholders on the list are from outside the family: Two former longstanding French executives, Guy de Clercq and Gilles Martignac, as well as CEO Pierre Baer.

Alain Castel described Romy as a “majority shareholder” of IBBM. The filing shows her having a 24% stake.

With the two former executives as allies “I have the majority,” to remove Clerc, Romy Castel said in the interview. “I am very, very confident.”

Pierre Castel’s empire spans the wine business that started in France and includes chateaus, vineyards, the Nicolas brand of stores and online seller Vinatis. The much bigger brewing and soda operation is focused on Africa, with some 61 brands of beer.

D.F. Holding, which includes both beer and wine operations, reported sales of €6.5 billion in 2024, little changed from the year before. Dividends paid to shareholders rose about eight-fold to €350 million compared with €43 million.

Since Clerc came on board, the firm has consolidated results across a swath of Castel operations. These include factories in 22 African countries as well as sugar plantations, flour and distillery activities.

This year it warned about lower wine consumption in France, political tension in a number of African countries and the war in Ukraine.

Supplies dwindling at displacement camp for refugees fleeing Sudan war

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22 December 2025

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Supplies dwindling at displacement camp for refugees fleeing Sudan war

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Authorities say they don’t have enough food, tents, and equipment to accommodate everyone fleeing Sudan’s war. Al Jazeera’s Mohamed Vall visited the Ghoz-el-Salam camp in northern Sudan.

Published On 22 Dec 2025

Olivia Emmett

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