The ailing telecom group Marconi has confirmed that its chairman will step down.

"When the financial restructuring is completed, Derek Bonham will have completed his work for Marconi," said a spokesman for the company.

"Derek Bonham and Alan Thomas, a new non-executive director, have already started the search for a new chairman."

Derek Bonham could leave in the autumn

According to reports in a UK Sunday newspaper, Derek Bonham had told friends he would leave the company when it was taken over by its lenders as part of the restructuring.

The departure is not a great surprise as Mr Bonham joined Marconi as an interim chairman, and agreed to serve until a full-time replacement could be found.

The company would not say when the restructuring is set to finish, but it is widely expected to be in the autumn.

Further departures?

Mr Bonham's other responsibilities include being chairman of Cadbury-Schweppes and Imperial Tobacco, which was formerly part of Hanson.

Prior to his appointment at Marconi, he was a former non-executive director with the group.

He was appointed as chairman in September 2001 after Sir Roger Hurn quit the post.

The Observer newspaper also reported that Marconi's finance director Steve Hare is expected to move on, as part of a shake-up at the company.

However, the Marconi spokesman denied that Mr Hare was set to leave.

Debt deal

After issuing a trading update last month, Marconi said that it would probably swap much of its debt with shares for its bank creditors.

Core sales of �510m ($804m) were down 22% during the three months ending in June, compared with the same quarter last year.

Negotiations with the banks over a restructuring of Marconi have been ongoing for several months.

Under the terms of the deal, the banks, including HSBC and Barclays, are expected to end up owning more than 50% of the company.

Debt burden

Marconi's debts nearly brought the company to its knees earlier this year.

An ill-fated acquisition spree in the US saw the company build up debt of �4bn.

The company's value on the stock market, which was once more than �35bn, has since plunged to about �100m.

The company has bank loans of about �2.2bn and �1.8bn in bond debt.