MALAWI – Castel Malawi Limited has announced that it has finally completed a name change of its subsidiary Southern Bottlers Limited to Castel Distribution Limited, months after selling the soft drink unit of the business to Coca-Cola Beverages Africa.
According to the notice informing the company’s stakeholders of the changes, Castel Malawi highlighted that the change will not affect the shareholding or corporate structure of the company.
“A new Certificate of Incorporation on change of name of the Company was issued by the Registrar of Companies on 29 November 2022 under Registration Number COYR-K901ABA.
“The sole Shareholder of the Company remains Castel Malawi Limited,” the company stated.
The notice also indicates that the change has not affected its head office and contact details, and will continue to operate various distribution centres for sale of its products throughout the country.
Castel Malawi is owned by French beverages company the Castel Group and has been undertaking the production and distribution of alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages in the Southern African country for over 50 years, suppling the market with global brands such as Castel Beer, Carlsberg beer, Coca-Cola, Fanta and Sprite, as well as Malawi Gin and Sobo Squash, among others.
However, since the beginning of the year, the drinks company has been rejigging its operations to focus more on its alcoholic beverage brands, which led to its offloading of the soft beverage unit Southern Bottlers Limited, commonly referred to as SOBO, to Coca-Cola Beverages Africa through its local subsidiary Coca-Cola Beverages Limited (CCBL).
The acquisition of the Malawian unit from the French beverage maker is part of the parties’ agreement to cease their distribution partnership in Africa that spanned nearly 25 years.
Other affected businesses are located in Gabon, Angola, Egypt, Senegal, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire and Cameroon.
New boss to drive future growth
Still in Malawi, Castel has also welcomed a new Managing Director Thomas Reynaud to steer the company into future growth.
Reynaud replaces Mr Herve Milhade who has been named BGI Ethiopia’s new Chief Executive Officer (CEO) by the parent company.
He has been with the Castel Group for many years working in various senior and strategic positions with its immediate post being the Chief Executive Officer of SGMT SOMDIAA Group in Togo, one of Castel Group’s subsidiaries.
Reynaud has also served as Finance Director at SMAG in Gabon for three years, and SUCAF’s finance manager, where he rose to the position of Managing Director.
He has also worked as a Senior Consultant at Primexis and PWC France and as a Cost Controller at Ora Bank in Togo for two years.
With an extensive and cross-cutting experience, Thomas’ key responsibilities include overseeing the company’s operations, expansion and growth.
“He will endeavour to maintain good relations with various stakeholders as the company seeks to positively impact people’s lives, work with the local communities and bring other improvements across the value chain,” stated Castel Malawi.
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