Office Depot

Office Depot founded in 1986, is one of the world's largest sellers of office products
and an industry leader in every distribution channel, including stores, direct mail, contract delivery, the Internet and business-to-business electronic commerce. Office Depot has three business units: North American Retail Division, North American Business Solutions Division and International Division. Sales go through multiple channels, consisting of office supply stores, a contract sales force, internet sites, direct marketing catalogues and call centers, all supported by our network of cross docks, warehouses and delivery operations.

Since 1994, we have participated in a joint venture in Mexico. In recent years, this venture, Office Depot de Mexico, has grown in size and scope and now includes a large number of retail locations in Mexico, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Panama, as well as call centers and distribution centers to support the delivery business in certain areas. We provide services to the venture through management consultation, product selection, product sourcing and information technology services. Including company-owned operations, joint ventures, licensing and franchise agreements, we sell office products through many hundreds of retail stores outside North America.

The merger with Viking Office Products, a leading direct marketer of office products in Europe and Australia, took place in 1998. As from then the Company's International Division operates under both the Office Depot and Viking brand names. By end of year, the Company owned and operated stores in France, Colombia, Hungary, Israel, Japan, Mexico, Poland and Thailand through joint venture or international licensing agreements. Under the Viking Office Products brand, the Company has direct mail and delivery operations in Australia, Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, The Netherlands and the United Kingdom.

In 2000, we launched the Office Depot contract channel in the UK and subsequently expanded the channel to four additional countries.

We further expanded our contract start-up business in 2003 with the acquisition of Guilbert, S.A. Guilbert operations and customers have been fully integrated into the Office Depot operations since the end of 2006. We are continuously assessing opportunities to expand our geographic footprint around the globe.

During 2006, we acquired a controlling interest in Best Office in South Korea and a majority stake in AsiaEC, one of the largest suppliers of office products and services in China.
Also in 2006, we increased our ownership interest to a majority stake in Office Depot Israel and acquired Papirius, one of the largest business-to-business suppliers of office products and services in Eastern Europe.

At the end of 2007, the International Division operated, through wholly-owned or majority-owned entities, with a large number of retail stores in France, Japan, Hungary, Israel and South Korea. In addition, we participate under licensing and merchandize arrangements in almost 100 stores in South Korea and Thailand.

In 2008 Office Depot and Reliance Retail Limited entered into a joint venture to provide office products and services to business customers in India. It marks the entry of Office Depot into India, one of the top 15 office product markets in the world. To accelerate this rollout of our joint venture, Office Depot and Reliance also announced the acquisition of eOfficePlanet.
The same year Office Depot and bigboXX.com entered into a strategic alliance to provide office products and services to corporate customers in Hong Kong. Through this alliance, bigboXX.com will become Office Depot's dedicated partner in Hong Kong, enabling clients to use the Office Depot international network for their multi-country supply needs. Also in 2008 Office Depot and Netbizz Office Supplies entered into a strategic alliance to provide office products and services to corporate customers in Singapore.
During the summer of 2008 Office Depot acquired majority interest in AGE, a Swedish office supply company that is among the largest in the region. Office Depot and AGE have been strategic alliance partners since 2004. This marks the entry of the Office Depot brand in the Nordic market, adding 13 retail locations and a contract business to the Company’s global footprint. AGE was founded in 1947 and has steadily grown to become the top office supply company in the Stockholm region as well a leader in the small and medium business segment throughout Sweden.