With Spain's Telefonica announcing the acquisition of 75% of voting rights attached to O2 plc shares (and that it's offer to acquire O2 has become unconditinal), the board has announced a number of changes, with immediate effect:

• Peter Erskine has been appointed as Chairman and Chief Executive.


• Sir David Arculus has stepped down as Chairman of the Board but will remain as a Non-Executive director, as will Andrew Sukawaty.


• César Alierta, Julio Linares and Antonio Viana-Baptista have been appointed as additional Non-Executive Directors.


• David Finch and Rudi Gröger will remain on the Board as Executive Directors.


• Matthew Key, Danuta Gray, Jaime Smith and Sohail Qadri have been appointed as additional Executive Directors.


• David Chance, Judy Gibbons, Stephen Hodge, Rudolf Lamprecht, Patrick Lupo and Kathleen O'Donovan have stepped down as Non-Executive Directors.

Sir David Arculus, outgoing Chairman of O2 plc, said: "I would like to thank the independent Non-Executive Directors for their commitment and service to O2 and its shareholders over the past four years. I am particularly proud of the significant increase in shareholder value that has been delivered through the strong operational performance of the business."

Peter Erskine will also join the baord of Telefonica as an Executive Director.