Vodafone brings in Philips' Gerard Kleisterlee to succeed John Bond as chairman

Vodafone Group Plc has brought on board Philips' outgoing CEO Gerard Kleisterlee as chairman to succeed John Bond, who steps down in July as the chairman of the Group after facing revolt from some shareholders.

Kleisterlee, due to retire as the Philips CEO in March, will be appointed as a non-executive director of Vodafone on 1 April before taking over as the chairman at Vodafone's annual general meeting in July, the company said in a statement.

Bond's re-election was opposed by more than six per cent of its shareholders in the Group's last AGM, in protest of what they deemed to be a poor strategy that hurt the firm's value.

The Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan (OTTP), which owns 0.4 per cent of the stock, had called for a ''rejuvenation of the board'', labelling Vodafone's acquisition record as ''disastrous.''

Vodafone is facing problems in both emerging and mature markets with regards to pricing, regulations and competition. In India, the Group recently moved court against its JV partner Essar to prevent it from divesting part of its stake.

It is also fighting a tax demand from over the $11.2 billion acquisition of Hutchison Essar Ltd. in 2007.