NSN CEO Rajeev Suri is likely to become the next chief executive officer of Nokia following the sale of its handset business to Microsoft.
Reuters quoting Helsingin Sanomat newspaper said Suri is likely to succeed Stephen Elop who is due to move to Microsoft once the $7.5 billion handset deal is closed.
Meanwhile, India’s Supreme Court today rejected Nokia’s appeal on transferring the Chennai plant to Microsoft.
The companies have been expecting to finalize the deal by the end of March, and the newspaper said the board of Nokia would nominate a new chief executive shortly after that.
Indian-born Suri has been widely considered the leading candidate for the post as in recent years he has helped the network equipment division turn profitable with a drastic restructuring plan and by ditching unprofitable businesses.
However, NSN recently reported its fourth-quarter sales fell 22 percent from a year earlier, raising concerns about its growth prospects.
NSN, which was originally a joint venture of Nokia and Siemens, accounts for about 90 percent of Nokia’s sales after the handset deal.
Nokia declined to comment on the CEO selection process. Since last autumn, the company has been temporarily led by chief financial officer Timo Ihamuotila.
