Andy Bond to step down as part time Asda chairman

Wal-Mart Stores Inc.’s U.K. supermarket chain Asda said Andy Bond stepped down as part-time chairman, less than a year after he was succeeded as chief executive officer by Chief Operating Officer Andy Clarke.

Bond, 45, will leave the Bentonville, Arkansas-based retailer once it completes the acquisition of South Africa’s Massmart Holdings Ltd., Asda said today by e-mail. That is likely to take place by the end of March, it said.

Bond joined Asda, the U.K.’s second-biggest supermarket chain, in 1994 and was CEO for five years. He is Wal-Mart’s executive vice-president responsible for the U.K. and Africa.

Wal-Mart plans to buy 51 percent of South African retailer Massmart for 16.5 billion rand ($2.5 billion). Wal-Mart is planning to use South Africa, the continent’s largest economy, as its platform for expansion in Africa to counter slowing growth in the U.S.

Bond “has been and will continue to be instrumental in our efforts to acquire a majority interest in Massmart,” Doug McMillon, Wal-Mart’s international chief, said in an internal note, describing the executive as “a brilliant merchant, a strong leader and an effective manager.”

Source : Paul Jarvis - Bloomberg