Corporate Express NV
finally agreed to be acquired by office supplies retailer Staples Inc. for €3.1 billion ($4.8 billion), abandoning its $2.7 billion bid for French peer Lyreco SA. The deal establishes a contract-based business-customer arm for Framingham, Mass.-based Staples in Europe and Canada, and extends the company's reach to Australia and New Zealand.
Mike Miles, Staples' president and chief operating officer, told MarketWatch what he thought about
the companies coming together. He said the deal will:
- take three years to integrate,
- give them a welcome boost to their sales force,
- add a business-customer contract business to its catalog and retail space in Europe,
- give Staples a better buying and distribution of products and
- expand its private-label business.
Corporate Express CEO Peter Ventress will have a large part in the integration of the firms -- which obviously have some overlaps -- as president of Staples International. Ventress will oversee Staples' business outside of the U.S. and Canada, and will report to Staples chairman and CEO Ron Sargent.
The Lyreco deal -- which could have created the top office products supplier focused exclusively on the B2B market in North America, Europe and Asia Pacific -- would have hurt Staples, which pursued Corporate Express to build out its B2B arm. Staples and Corporate Express' collective businesses, as of the end of each company's 2007 fiscal year, had annual revenues of $27 billion with more than 94,000 associates serving customers in 28 countries.
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Baz HiralalGo to the article from TheDeal.comRead the story from MarketWatchSee the announcement from Staples
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