European Union regulators have launched an antitrust investigation into German software giant SAP SE (SAP.US), examining whether the company's on-premise maintenance and support services for its management software distort market competition.

The European Commission stated in an email on Thursday that SAP's business practices may prevent customers from choosing alternative suppliers who could provide related services at lower prices. The investigation focuses on SAP's Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software, which is primarily used for corporate business operations management.

EU Competition Commissioner Teresa Ribera commented: "We are concerned that SAP may be restricting competition in this critical aftermarket by making it harder for competitors to enter the market, ultimately leaving European customers with fewer choices and higher costs."

The EU's antitrust division added that SAP can now submit commitment proposals to address these concerns. In response, SAP emphasized in a separate statement that its business policies follow long-established standards common throughout the global software industry, with all policies and practices complying with legal requirements, and that the investigation will not materially impact the company's financial performance.

As of press time, SAP shares fell approximately 1.6% in pre-market U.S. trading on Thursday, with peer companies' stock prices also declining broadly.

This investigation echoes the EU's previous case against Microsoft (MSFT.US), where Microsoft was accused of illegally bundling its Teams video conferencing application. Microsoft subsequently committed to separating Teams from its popular Office suite, which alleviated market concerns about competition issues.

Notably, before the EU announced this investigation, Europe's largest software manufacturer had just announced partnerships with OpenAI and Amazon (AMZN.US) AWS, planning to expand its "digital sovereignty" related services to European governments.

In recent years, SAP SE has been working to adapt its software business to cloud computing demands and is now actively adjusting to address challenges in the era of generative artificial intelligence. Data shows that SAP's cloud business revenue is expected to reach nearly 22 billion euros, nearly three times its 2019 level.