Ascender expands payroll services footprint in Japan with acquisition of Workcloud

TOKYO, JAPAN - Media OutReach - 15 February 2017 - Ascender announced today it has acquired Workcloud, a leading Payroll and Time & Attendance (T&A) services provider in Japan.

This transaction will strengthen Ascender's position as the market leader in HR & payroll software and services across Asia-Pacific by specifically accelerating its growth in Japan. Ascender is now servicing over 3,000 clients and over 1.7m employees in ANZ and the Asia-Pacific region.

"This  acquisition positions Ascender as a leader in innovation for multi-national HR and Payroll services in Japan - a critical market in the Asia-Pacific region. As well as complementing Ascender's overall growth strategy and vision, this acquisition also allows us to build on existing market momentum and experience to support our customers with the best products and services. Workcloud has a modern web technology platform which we look forward to building upon as we continue to innovate and expand into Japan", says Marjukka Mäki-Hokkonen, CEO of Ascender.

This acquisition is aligned to Ascender's 2020 strategy to become an Asia-Pacific leader in payroll and HR services. As part of the transaction, Ascender will ensure continuity of the acquired Payroll and T&A operations, service agreements and software development.

Following the transaction, Brian Tsai, Workcloud's CEO & Founder, will become the Country Director of Ascender Japan and will be instrumental in leading the business in the market. "Ascender's vision to be the leading HR & payroll services company in Asia resonates with the core values and culture of Workcloud, making this a natural step for us. Ascender is commited to client satisfaction alongside innovation and our strategic partnership will allow us to leverage the best technology available across the network to meet evolving customer needs," says Brian Tsai.

About Ascender: Founded in 2003, Ascender offers advanced payroll service solutions using SaaS, co-managed and fully- managed delivery options. Our proprietary platforms allow us to seamlessly tackle very large, complex clients that require process re-engineering, process standardization and automation, and extended payroll services. We are the leader in Asia Pacific multi-country solutions, enabling consolidated reporting and multiple language and currency capabilities. Headquartered in Australia, we have 700 highly trained employees that provide services in up to 31 languages, in 19 countries through 12 delivery centres. Together, our team serves 3,000 client entities and their 1 million employees.

Ascender was acquired in 2015 by a consortium led by Potentia and including Five V Capital. Visit ascender.co.jp for more information.

About Workcloud: Workcloud was founded in 2014 with a vision to provide small-to-medium size businesses in Japan with a service that integrates management of all aspects of HR operations into an easy-to-use, beautiful platform. While so many services focus on the HR administrators, Workcloud brings a B2C user experience that is focused on a company's employees.