Concur, a provider of integrated travel and expense management solutions, has signed a definitive agreement to establish a new joint venture in Tokyo, Japan, known as Concur Japan. This transaction is scheduled to close in February 2011.

Led by Japanese technology veteran Shigeru Fujii, the joint venture will allow Concur to address the demands of the increasing number of corporations in Japan and throughout Asia that are switching to cloud computing and mobile solutions to control expenses.

According to a release, 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 (News - Alert), acting as a minority direct investor.

"The embrace of cloud computing in Japan continues to drive growth opportunities for SaaS (News - Alert) 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."

Read a related article at TMCnet “Leading Travel Management Companies Partners With Concur Boosting Travel Productivity.”