New chairman for Vodafone

Gerard Kleisterlee will replace Sir John Bond, who is set to retire from the board in July

VODAFONE is preparing to welcome its new chairman later this year following the recent announcement that the current chairman, Sir John Bond, is to retire from the board in July.

Gerard Kleisterlee, who is currently president/chief executive officer and chairman of the board of management and the group management committee of Philips, will be appointed as a non-executive director of Vodafone on April 1, following his retirement from Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. (Philips) on March 31.

Vittorio Colao, the chief executive of Vodafone, which is based in Shaw, Newbury, said: “On behalf of the board and everyone at Vodafone, I would like to pay tribute to Sir John for his huge contribution to the company throughout his tenure as chairman.

“We have been fortunate to have benefited from his leadership, experience and wise counsel in a time of evolution for Vodafone.

“I personally am very grateful to him for his constant support and personal advice since becoming CEO during a phase of extraordinary economic and industry changes.”

Mr Kleisterlee said it was an honour and a privilege to be invited to become the chairman of Vodafone, adding that he looked forward to the new challenge and building on Sir John's outstanding achievements from his six years on the board of Vodafone.

In addition to his role at Philips, Mr Kleisterlee has been a member of the Daimler AG Supervisory Board since April 2009, a non-executive director of the Supervisory Board and member of the Audit Committee of Royal Dutch Shell since November 2010, and a member of the Board of Directors of Dell since December 2010.