BERLIN, (Reuters) – Frank Appel is the chief executive at Deutsche Post in Germany (OTC). Two people close to the matter said that Appel was the preferred candidate to take over as the chairman of Deutsche Telekom’s next supervision board.

Sources indicated that Deutsche Telekom’s supervisory board and Deutsche Post’s supervision board are scheduled to meet Wednesday.

Both companies were unable to comment.

According to the Handelsblatt, Appel could be proposed as an election candidate at Deutsche Telekom’s annual meeting in April 7.

Ulrich Lehner is retiring as Telekom chairman. He has been the Telekom supervisory board’s head since 2008. Next year’s shareholders meeting will end. He confirmed already that an outside search was underway for a replacement.

Klaus Zumwinkel was the predecessor to Appel as Deutsche Post’s Supervisory Board Chairman.

German Government holds shares in both of these companies.

Appel, a McKinsey ex-consultant, is a Deutsche Post employee since 2000. He was elected to the board in 2002 and then he rose up to become the CEO in 2008.

The contract Appel signed runs to 2022. It was anticipated that Appel would be making a decision soon about the future of the Post. Industry insiders speculate that Appel might be willing to leave Deutsche Post, given the record-breaking results of Deutsche Post during the pandemic.