Xstrata appoints Bond as chairman as Strothotte retires

Mining giant Xstrata has moved quickly to snap up the outgoing Vodafone chairman Sir John Bond as its new chairman of the board.Sir John will replace Willy Strothotte, who is to retire after the AGM on 4 May. "It has been a privilege to serve as Chairman of Xstrata plc since its inception in 2002 through such an important period of growth and value creation for the group and its shareholders," Willy Strothotte said.Sir John leaves Vodafone officially on 26 July, but will start work at Xstrata immediately in a consultancy role. "Sir John Bond has an exceptional record of shareholder value creation in his distinguished career, during which he has successfully chaired two major international companies, HSBC and Vodafone, and gained unrivalled experience in the world's emerging Asian economies," added David Rough, Deputy Chairman and Senior Independent non-exec at Xstrata.Bond has been chairman of Vodafone since July 2006, and was formerly chairman of HSBC at a time when the bank made acquisition of US sub-prime lender Household International. Xstrata is 34% owned by Glencore, which is set to float in London shortly in a listing that could value it at $60bn. Glencore's chief executive Ivan Glasenberg is reported to be keen to merge fully with Xstrata.