Excelsior buys Office Depot Korea business

The transaction continues Office Depot’s divestments of its international businesses that began last year in the wake of the failed takeover bid by rival Staples. Just days earlier Platinum Equity had agreed to acquire Office Depot’s businesses in Australia and New Zealand, where it operates under the OfficeMax brand. Financial terms of both transactions have not been disclosed.

Office Depot was founded in 1986 and currently operates about 1,400 retail stores with 38,000 employees across North America. In its most recent annual report the company recorded revenue of $11 billion for its North American division in the year ended December 2016, down from $11.7 billion the previous year, while the international division reported a $150 million loss, up from an $8 million loss the prior year. Over the same period net profit grew to $370 million, from a net loss of $69 million.

Staples had agreed to buy Office Depot in 2015, but after the US Federal Trade Commission won a court ruling to block the acquisition last year the deal was cancelled. As a result both companies have decided to sell their international divisions and refocus on North America. Staples exited its Australia and New Zealand businesses to Platinum last month for an undisclosed amount.

Excelsior did not comment on its plans for Office Depot in a statement. On its website, the firm says it typically targets investments of $15-50 million in size. It seeks significant minority or controlling stakes in private and publicly listed companies in the media, consumer products and manufacturing sectors, with a focus on China, Taiwan and South Korea.

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• Topics
• North Asia
• Consumer
• Buyouts
• South Korea
• buyout