Rajeev Suri to be named CEO of Nokia Corporation on Tuesday: Report

Nokia, which is set to close the sale of its phone business to Microsoft, will on Tuesday name Rajeev Suri as its next CEO and outline its new strategy with a focus on its networks equipment business, a newspaper said on Friday.

Citing unnamed sources, daily Helsingin Sanomat said Nokia would also on Tuesday, along with its first-quarter results, announce how much cash it would pay out to shareholders.

Investors have been looking forward to hearing about Nokia's next steps since it announced the 5.4 billion euro ($7.5 billion) Microsoft deal in September.

Nokia said earlier this week it expected the deal to close on Friday after the companies had agreed to modify certain deal conditions.

46-year-old Suri, born in India, has been widely considered the leading candidate for the CEO post as in recent years he has helped the network division Nokia Solutions and Networks (NSN) turn profitable with a drastic restructuring plan and by ditching unprofitable businesses.

The newspaper also said Nokia would over time abandon the name NSN. Nokia was not immediately available for comment.

A Finnish media report in March also tipped Rajeev Suri to be named the global CEO of Nokia Corporation. The report claimed Suri would be appointed as CEO in April, after Microsoft concludes the acquisition of Nokia's handset business.

After the acquisition, Nokia will be left with the telecom equipment, location-based services and advanced technologies business. Nokia had at the time said its longstanding policy is not to comment on media speculation.

Suri is also an engineering graduate from Mangalore University like Nadella, who took over in February as US-based Microsoft's third CEO after Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer.

If chosen, Suri will join an elite club of Indians heading global firms, which includes PepsiCo Chairman Indra Nooyi, Reckitt Benckiser Chief Executive Rakesh Kapoor, Ajay Banga, President and Chief Executive of MasterCard, and Anshu Jain of Deutsche Bank.

Suri, who has headed Nokia Solutions and Networks (NSN) since October 2009, has been credited for "presiding over consistently improving results leading to the successful turnaround and restructuring of the company." Suri joined Nokia in 1995 and headed the Asia Pacific region for NSN in 2007.

© Thomson Reuters 2014