SAP board chair designate to resign, Pekka Ala-Pietila nominated as successor

German software company SAP has nominated Finnish businessman Pekka Ala-Pietila to stand for election as chair of its supervisory board after current chair designate Punit Renjen decided to resign, SAP said on Sunday.

Ala-Pietila, a former president of Nokia Corporation who sat on SAP's supervisory board from 2002 to 2021, will stand for election at the next general meeting, the company said in a statement.

Ala-Pietila is currently chairman of the board of packaging company Huhtamaki, learning company Sanoma Corporation and the HERE Technology supervisory board, according to his LinkedIn page. Renjen, a former CEO of Deloitte, was leaving the board over a "difference in perspective on the role of SAP Supervisory Board chair, which Punit Renjen was designated to assume", SAP's statement said, without elaborating.

Renjen, whose resignation will take effect at SAP's next annual general meeting on May 15, was named as the designated chairman in February last year to succeed the company's co-founder Hasso Plattner after his two-decade term expires in May 2024.