From his unusual name, Cityblogger has always believed that Arun Sarin, chief executive of mighty Vodafone, missed out on his obvious destiny as a character in Star Wars. And now it appears that he is about to wind his way back to the Galaxy Far Far Away. For Mr Sarin stunned the City this morning by revealing he is to leave the telecoms giant in July, after appearing to scotch rumours circulating last year that he might quit in 2008.

However, while Mr Sarin’s departure might come as a bit of a shock, news of his successor won’t surprise investors one bit. Vittorio Colao, currently the telecoms giant’s deputy chief executive, is to take over the reins as analysts have widely predicted. Mr Colao originally joined Vodafone from Omnitel, a leading Italian mobile phone company it took over, briefly leaving to head up RCS MediaGroup in 2004 before returning in 2006. And given he was previously a partner at McKinsey, City commentators have nothing but praise for him.

“Vittorio Colao is a consensus choice of successor, although the timing is earlier than we expected,” says Terence Sinclair at Citi Investment Research. “We have a high regard for him.”

David Buik at BGC Partners echoes Mr Sinclair’s thoughts. “I think Mr Colao is a good chap,” he told Cityblogger this morning. “His pedigree is good and he’s got the business background with his time at McKinsey. I doubt many important decisions at Vodafone have been made without him.”

But will Mr Sarin be remembered as a Luke Skywalker or Darth Vader type during his time at Vodafone? It hasn’t all been plane sailing for the mobile mogul. Back in 2006 Mr Sarin faced an embarrassing revolt by shareholders at the 2006 AGM who, after a handful of profit warnings, feared he was not the right candidate to lead Vodafone.

However, the share price performance has since improved, profits look healthier and debts have fallen. “[Arun Sarin’s reign] was a huge success,” says Mr Buik. “[Previously] Vodafone was drowning in debt and it seemed to be rudderless. Consider where it was five years ago – with the shares at 101p – and where it is today (at 166p). They sold the Japan operation and have done well in South Africa and the emerging markets. But I think the chairman, John Bond, was hugely influential on policy at Vodafone and [Mr Sarin] was a bit of a puppet on a string. If I were him it’s time to be gracious now and walk away.”

May the force be with you!

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