US-based provider of integrated travel and expense management solutions, Concur announced on Monday that it has picked up a minority stake in Cleartrip with a strategic investment of $40 million. The investment is part of Concur's foray into India to expand its customer base. However, both companies did not reveal the percentage of stake picked up by Concur.

“This partnership was a year in the making. We have had a chance to evaluate the Indian market and Cleartrip had the best strategy to go forward amongst the online travel agencies (OTA),” said Mr Steve Singh, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Concur.

Commenting on the deal, Mr Sandeep Murthy, Chairman, Cleartrip, said, “The benefits for us are in two spaces. Now we will be able to handle expenses and bills. We have been planning on a larger global presence this will allow us to do that as well.”

What is on offer

Concur has an 80 per cent market share in corporate travel expense management market in the US. The company offers automated services for managing expenses due to corporate travel. “Almost 85 per cent of the travel expense report for companies is filled out by us. There is a very large market for it in India. $13 billion is the total corporate travel market and out of this $1 billion is the market for automated corporate travel expenses,” said Mr Singh.

The tie-up will allow corporates to book tickets for their employees and keep track of the travel expenses via an automated medium through one single Web site.

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