London: The CEO of German industrial giant Thyssenkrupp on Thursday announced his resignation, just days after he hailed the "historic" merger of the company's steelmaking business with Tata Steel.

In a move that came as a surprise, the company announced that Heinrich Hiesinger has asked the supervisory board of the company to end his mandate as the chief executive officer of Thyssenkrupp AG "in mutual agreement".

Hiesinger said: "Today, I informed the supervisory board that I would like to step down from my position as CEO of Thyssenkrupp. I take this step very consciously to enable a fundamental discussion in the supervisory board on the future of Thyssenkrupp."

A joint understanding of the board and the supervisory board on the strategic direction of a company is a key pre-requisite for successfully leading a company, he said.

He added: "The joint venture of our steel activities with Tata is the next significant step to turn Thyssenkrupp into a strong industrial company."