Concur Establishes Japanese Joint Venture
New joint venture with SunBridge Corporation supports Concur's commitment to global and local market leadership
TOKYO and REDMOND, Wash., Jan. 19, 2011 - Concur (Nasdaq: CNQR), a leading provider of integrated travel and expense management solutions, today announced it has signed a definitive agreement to establish a new joint venture in Tokyo, Japan, known as Concur Japan. The joint venture, which will be led by Japanese technology veteran Shigeru Fujii, will enable Concur to meet the demands of the increasing number of corporations in Japan and throughout Asia that are turning to cloud computing and mobile solutions to help them control expenses.
Concur Japan is a joint venture between Concur, as the majority shareholder, SunBridge Corporation, the firm responsible for the salesforce.com Japan joint venture, and Marc Benioff, acting as a minority direct investor. The transaction is expected to close in February 2011.
"The embrace of cloud computing in Japan continues to drive growth opportunities for SaaS providers that offer real and compelling value to their clients. Increasingly, Japanese companies are turning to Web and mobile solutions to help them reduce costs, increase scalability and flexibility, and make life easier for their employees," said Steve Singh, chairman and CEO of Concur. "Concur's integrated travel and expense management solutions fill a critical need for organizations of all sizes looking for greater control and visibility into their T&E spend. Fujii-san's deep enterprise software expertise in Japan combined with SunBridge's and Marc's records of success helping businesses grow in the second largest economy in the world puts us in an excellent position for growth."
"I am excited about the market potential for integrated travel and expense management solutions that bring the benefits of cloud computing, mobile and social computing together in an integrated way that's beneficial for companies and their employees," said Shigeru Fujii, Concur Japan's newly appointed Chief Executive Officer. Prior to joining Concur, Shigeru Fujii spent the last 25 years serving in a variety of senior leadership roles, most recently within the Office of the President of Ashisuto K.K., a leading Japanese independent software distributor, where he was responsible for strategic planning.
"Concur's strengths in on-demand and mobile innovations and its commitment to delivering local market solutions that help companies drive down the costs of doing business position them extremely well in the Japanese market," said Allen Miner, the Founder and CEO of SunBridge. "With our track record of helping cloud computing service providers be successful in Japan, I have no doubt that Concur has what it takes to enjoy similar success."
About Concur
Concur® is a leading provider of integrated travel and expense management solutions for companies of all sizes. Concur's easy-to-use web-based and mobile solutions help companies and their employees control costs and save time. Learn more at www.concur.com.
About SunBridge
SunBridge Corporation is an international venture capital and professional services firm. SunBridge offers globalization support for both Japanese and US technology companies; is a premier value added reseller of leading international enterprise software products; and, offers a range of custom development and consulting services. SunBridge's principals share a rich heritage of having founded Oracle Japan and held senior executive positions with IBM Japan and other leading enterprise software companies. SunBridge successfully co-founded salesforce.com Japan and ITmedia, and invested over $100m in more than 65 portfolio companies, resulting in eight successful IPOs and several major acquisition exits generating over $21 Billion in current market capitalization. SunBridge offices are located in Tokyo, Osaka, Silicon Valley and Cleveland. More information is available at www.sunbridge.com and www.sunbridgepartners.com.
SOURCE Concur
CONTACT:Press,Stefanie Fricke of Weber Shandwick for Concur,+1-425-452-5468,SFricke@WeberShandwick.com;orInvestors,John Torrey of Concur,+1-425-497-5986,john.torrey@concur.com
Web Site: www.sunbridge.com
