


Corporate Governance
CIEL Limited, formerly known as Deep River Investment Limited, incorporated on 31 August 1948, is a public company listed on the Official Market of the Stock Exchange of Mauritius.
On 24 January 2014, CIEL Investment Limited was amalgamated with and into Deep River Investment Limited (“DRI”). DRI, as surviving company post Amalgamation, was renamed CIEL Limited. CIEL is also registered as a Reporting Issuer with the Financial Services Commission since the promulgation of the Securities Act 2005. CIEL is an international Mauritian Group, listed on the Stock Exchange of Mauritius and on the SEM Sustainability Index. The Group invests and operates in 6 strategic sectors, namely Textile, Finance, Healthcare, Hospitality, Property and Agriculture.

Board of Directors


P. Arnaud Dalais
Chairman / Non-Executive Director
Joined the Board in November 1991
Skills and Experience:
- Joined the CIEL Group in August 1977
- Appointed Group Chief Executive and Director in November 1991
- Under his leadership, the CIEL Group at large went through an important growth both locally and internationally
- Plays an active role at the level of the Mauritian private sector and has assumed the chairmanship of several organisations including the Joint Economic Council from 2000 to 2002 and Business Mauritius from 2015 to 2017
Directorships in other listed companies:
Alteo Limited, Sun Limited

Jean-Pierre Dalais
Executive Director / Group Chief Executive
Joined the Board in February 1995
Skills and Experience:
- Joined CIEL Group in January 1992 and is its Group Chief Executive since January 2017, overseeing all Group operations
- Was formerly Executive Director at CIEL, focusing particularly on the development of the Group’s Hotels & Resorts, Financial Services and Healthcare clusters
- Before that, Jean-Pierre Dalais was the Chief Executive Officer of CIEL Investment Limited
- Graduated with an MBA from the International University of America, San Francisco, and previously worked at Arthur Andersen (Mauritius and France)
Directorships in other listed companies:
Alteo Limited, Phoenix Beverages Limited (Alternate Director), Sun Limited (Chairman)

Sébastien Coquard
Non-Executive Director
Joined the Board in May 2014
Skills and Experience:
- Head of Investments at FFP, the listed investment company majority-owned by the Peugeot family
- Representative of FFP Invest on the Board of Directors of OPCI Lapillus II and IDI Emerging Markets SA and on the Advisory Board of IDI SCA
- Former representative of FFP Invest on the Board of Directors of Onet, Ipsos and LT Participations
- Director of FFP Investments UK Ltd
- Held long-term investments positions at Allianz France, worked at Oddo Corporate Finance on M&A and ECM transactions and in the corporate banking division of Paribas
Directorships in other listed companies:
IDI SCA

Guillaume P. A. Dalais
Non-Executive Director
Joined the Board in June 2019
Skills and Experience:
- Joined the CIEL Textile Group in 2010
- Appointed Executive Director of the Knits cluster of the CIEL Textile Group in 2012
- Chief Executive Officer of the Knitwear cluster of the CIEL Textile Group since July 2016
- Former experience in the investment Banking sector by working at Métier Investments & Advisory Services in South Africa and CIEL Capital Limited in Mauritius
Directorships in other listed companies:
None

Marc Dalais
Non-Executive Director
Joined the Board in June 2017
Skills and Experience:
- Founder and Executive Chairman of Celero group, a leading logistics and shipping group operating mainly in Mauritius and Madagascar
- Previous International working experience with Nedlloyds shipping in RSA and the Bollore group in Paris
- Worked at IBL group as General Manager of a trading division then heading and growing its Aviation, Logistics & Shipping division in the Indian Ocean
- Served on boards of Mauritius Export Association and a company pioneering Freeport operations in Mauritius
Directorships in other listed companies:
None

R. Thierry Dalais
Non-Executive Director
Joined the Board in August 2013
Skills and Experience:
- More than 30 years’ experience in the financial services and private equity investment industry
- Co-founder of two private equity investment firms and acted as a key person and principal in numerous private investment programs over the last 25 years
- Former director and trustee on numerous boards, including listed companies in Mauritius and abroad
- Completed degrees in Commerce and Accounting at the University of the Witwatersrand and qualified as a Chartered Accountant in South Africa
Directorships in other listed companies:
Sun Limited

Pierre Danon
Independent Non-Executive Director
Joined the Board in January 2014
Skills and Experience:
- Chairman of Solocal Group, the European leader in digital communication
- Chairman of Volia in Kiev, the Ukrainian leading cable and broadband company
- Former Chairman of Eircom in Dublin and TDC in Copenhagen, Vice Chairman of AgroGeneration, a public company listed on the Alternext of NYSE, Chief Operating Officer of the Capgemini Group, one of the world’s foremost providers of consulting, technology and outsourcing services, Chief Officer of British Telecom Retail and non-executive Director of Standard Life in Edinburgh
Directorships in other listed companies:
None

L. J. Jérôme De Chasteauneuf
Executive Director / Group Finance Director
Joined the Board in April 2012
Skills and Experience:
- Former working experience with PricewaterhouseCoopers in the UK, where he qualified as a Chartered Accountant
- Key leading position within the CIEL Group, becoming its Head of Finance in 2000
- Involved in the financial reengineering which accompanied the development of the CIEL Group
- Currently representing CIEL on numerous boards of subsidiaries
Directorships in other listed companies:
Alteo Limited, C-Care (Mauritius) Ltd, Harel Mallac & Co. Limited, Sun Limited

Roger Espitalier Noël
Non-Executive Director
Joined the Board in January 2014
Skills and Experience:
- Former Corporate Sustainability Advisor of CIEL
- Former General Manager of Floreal Knitwear Limited
- Holds more than 35 years’ experience in the textile industry
- Involved in the restructuring and restart of the Madagascar Production Units after the political unrest of 2001, and as from 2008, acting as consultant for the CIEL Textile Limited where his activities were focused on the environmental, logistics, utilities as well as the retail aspects of the Knits division
Directorships in other listed companies:
ENL Limited, Phoenix Beverages Limited (Alternate Director) and Phoenix Investment Limited (Alternate Director)

M. A. Louis Guimbeau
Non-Executive Director
Joined the Board in July 1991
Skills and Experience:
- Held senior positions in different sectors of the Mauritian economy, gaining a vast experience in strategy development, administration, finance and accounting until his retirement in 2010
- Co-founder of La Meule Permaculture Farm in 2014, a sustainable living project
- Former Director of Sun Limited
Directorships in other listed companies:
None

Marc Ladreit De Lacharrière
Non-Executive Director
Joined the Board in September 2014
Skills and Experience:
- Founder of Fimalac, a formerly listed company held by Group Marc de Lacharrière, which operates in four business areas: capital investment with Warburg Pincus, digital media in entertainment through Webedia, entertainment with the organisation of shows and venue management (FIMALAC Entertainment), and leisure activities and hotels through the Group Barrière
- Former Executive of Banque de Suez et de l’Union des Mines, which was renamed Indosuez following the integration of Banque de l’Indochine
- Former CFO of L’Oréal where he progressively became Vice-Chairman Deputy CEO
Directorships in other listed companies:
None

J. Harold Mayer
Non-Executive Director
Joined the Board in January 2014
Skills and Experience:
- Chief Executive Officer of the CIEL Textile group since 2006
- He joined CIEL Textile in 1990 and has been holding key positions within the Group since then. He started his career as Head of Finance of New Island Clothing and was promoted General Manager of Aquarelle Clothing Ltd in 1995. He was also Chief Operating Officer of the clothing operations
- He is a qualified Chartered Accountant and holds a bachelor’s degree in commerce
Directorships in other listed companies:
Sun Limited, Omnicane Limited

Catherine McIlraith
Independent Non-Executive Director
Joined the Board in January 2015
Skills and Experience:
- Member of the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants since 1992
- Fellow Member of the Mauritius Institute of Directors
- Serves as an Independent Non-Executive Director and as a member of various Committees of several public and private companies in Mauritius, South Africa and England
- Served her Articles with Ernst & Young in Johannesburg before joining the investment banking industry where she held senior positions in corporate and specialised finance for Ridge Corporate Finance, BoE NatWest and BoE Merchant Bank in Johannesburg
- Former Head of Banking at Investec Bank
(Mauritius Branch)
Directorships in other listed companies:
Astoria Investments Ltd, Grit Real Estate Income Group Limited, Les Gaz Industriels Ltd, Paradise Property Investments Ltd, The Mauritius Union Assurance Company Limited, MUA Limited, Barak Fund SPC Limited

Jean-Louis Savoye
Non-Executive Director
Joined the Board in September 2017
Skills and Experience:
- Deputy General Manager of Dentressangle, a French société par actions simplifiée which is the investment holding company of the Dentressangle family
- Has been instrumental in helping Dentressangle to realise its investment strategy during the last 15 years
- Prior to joining Dentressangle in 2003 as CFO, Jean-Louis Savoye, served with PwC and ran due diligences acquisitions in M&A for various Private Equity firms and French leading industrial companies
- Is a graduate of the Toulouse Business School with a major in Finance
Directorships in other listed companies:
Sun Limited, Tessi

Xavier Thiéblin
Non-Executive Director
Joined the Board in December 2013
Skills and Experience:
- Started in the banking sector before joining, in 1970, Société Sucrière de Quartier Français
- Former Chairman of that group which became a major player of the sugar industry
- Played important roles in the sectors of sugar and rum, in Réunion island, Paris and Brussels
- Manages and administers several companies, including OXACO, a family holding which invests in the Indian Ocean and Europe and assumes some professional responsibilities in several enterprises
Directorships in other listed companies:
None

M. F. Antoine Delaporte
Chairman

Jacques Toupas
Alternate Director
Joined the Board in February 2016
Skills and Experience:
- Joined Fimalac Group in 2009 and is responsible of financial portfolio monitoring and investment, working directly with the Chairman and the CFO
- Serves as Board member of various Fimalac Group’s subsidiaries
- Former working experience in investment banking, both in Paris and London and started his career at Arthur Andersen in Paris as a financial audit prior to moving to PwC as a senior auditor and later as a manager in the Transaction Services department
- Also worked in Private Equity as a manager at European Capital
Directorships in other listed companies:
none
Committees of the Board
The Board of CIEL has established four committees namely the Audit & Risk Committee, the Corporate Governance, Ethics, Nomination & Remuneration Committee, the Strategic & Advisory Committee and the Corporate Sustainability Committee which are responsible for assisting the Board in discharging its responsibilities. Each committee acts according to clearly defined terms of reference approved by the Board and reports to the Board on matters discussed at committee meetings.Board Committees are entitled to take independent
and external professional advice, as and when necessary. Senior Management as well as internal and external auditors regularly attend Committee meetings to report on specific issues.
Board Committees
Strategic & Advisory Committee

Audit & Risk Committee

Corporate Governance, Ethics, Nomination & Remuneration Committee
