Vodafone to go Dutch with new chairman Gerard Kleisterlee

Daily News, By SIMON DUKE, 25th January 2011

Vodafone is poised to name the boss of Dutch electronics giant Philips as its new chairman.

The mobile phone giant is understood to be close to hiring Gerard Kleisterlee as a replacement for the departing Sir John Bond.

A board meeting is scheduled for this week to discuss a shortlist of three candidates, with the German-born Kleisterlee a clear front runner, sources said.

New job? The mobile phone giant is understood to be close to hiring
Gerard Kleisterlee as a replacement for the departing Sir John Bond

The Footsie giant is aiming to finalise the succession before next Thursday’ third-quarter results, but an announcement could come as early as this week.

If all goes according to plan, Kleisterlee would first join the board as a non-executive director before taking Bond’s role in the summer.

Kleisterlee’s elevation follows a protracted search for a European businessman with global stature and consumer nous.

An early candidate was John Varley, the recently-departed chief executive of Barclays. But Vodafone swiftly opted against replacing Bond – a former boss of HSBC – with another ‘stiff collared banker’, a source said.

Rolls Royce boss Sir John Rose and Unilever chairman Michael Treschow were also considered for the position.

Although a relative unknown in Britain, Kleisterlee has a big reputation in the technology industry. Like his father before him, he has spent his entire career at Philips.

After rising to chief executive a decade ago, he helped turn the firm into a global conglomerate.

Vodafone began looking for a replacement for Bond in the wake of a frosty investor meeting this Summer.

Since then, chief executive Vittorio Colao has attempted to mollify investors with a series of disposals of minority stakes in Chinese and Japanese businesses.

Colao is hoping to raise at least £7bn from the sale of its 44pc holding in French operator SFR.

More important still will be securing a resumption in dividend payouts from its Verizon Wireless.