SAP Ends EU Antitrust Case, Opens ERP Maintenance to Third‑Party Providers

The European Commission has formally closed its antitrust investigation into SAP without imposing any fines after the software giant pledged to abandon reactivation fees for customers returning to official support and to permit external maintenance providers for on‑premise ERP systems. The settlement removes the threat of billions‑euro penalties and grants customers the right to use third‑party firms such as Rimini Street for legacy ECC systems while retaining SAP support for newer S/4 architectures.

Despite the regulatory relief, SAP shares remain near their annual low, trading only marginally above the year‑low level. Analysts note that the market reaction is muted and that the upcoming second‑quarter earnings report on 23 July will be closely watched for progress on the cloud migration and commercialization of new AI features. In parallel, SAP appointed Mani Shekhar as head of the partner ecosystem for India, tasked with accelerating AI‑driven transformation and cloud adoption in the region.