Vodafone names Kleisterlee as future chairman

Vodafone today named outgoing Philips Chief Executive Gerard Kleisterlee as its future chairman, appointing a businessman with emerging-market experience who simplified the Dutch group.

Kleisterlee, who became Chief Executive of Philips in 2001, will join Vodafone as a non-executive director and take over from John Bond at the firm's annual general meeting in the summer.

More than 6%of Vodafone shareholders voted against the re-election of Bond at the company's last AGM in a small protest at what they deemed to be a poor strategy that hurt the firm's value.

German-born Kleisterlee transformed and simplified the formerly unweildy Philips conglomerate during his time at the Dutch firm and will also bring strong international experience to Vodafone, the world's largest mobile phone operator by revenue.