(Reuters) -Mobile group Vodafone ( VOD ) said on Wednesday finance chief Luka Mucic will be stepping down from his role by early next year, adding that a search for his successor is ongoing.

Mucic has taken up an offer to be CEO of Germany's top-listed property company Vonovia SE, as the company swaps out its long-serving chief executive in a bid to recover from an industry-wide real estate slump.

(Reporting by Pushkala Aripaka in Bengaluru; Editing by Mrigank Dhaniwala)