AURELIUS, the shareholder of Office Depot Europe, has announced today that it has signed an agreement to sell Viking and the Office Depot Europe operating business to strategic buyer RAJA Group. RAJA Group, present in 18 European countries and employing 3,000 people, is Europe’s leading distributor of packaging, and a major player in the office supplies and furniture market. The acquisition of Viking and the Office Depot Europe Contract business will support RAJA Group’s sales growth, customer base expansion and product diversification, and will allow the Group to strengthen its position and complete its geographical coverage in this strategic market.
Office Depot Europe was acquired by AURELIUS in 2017. Since then, extensive investments have been made in the company’s e-commerce activities, which resulted in a strategic realignment of Office Depot Europe focussing on Viking as a strong e-commerce player. Through the implementation of a comprehensive transformation programme, the business is now focusing on its seven core markets of DACH, Benelux, UK and Ireland. It has long standing experience and expertise and offers an integrated, omni-channel platform and dedicated professionals across its main segments and brands, serving customers from small start-ups to large scale businesses and working closely with some of the world’s biggest brands.
Raffael Reinhold, CEO of Office Depot Europe, commented: “We are delighted about this opportunity with RAJA and we are looking forward to accelerating our business as part of the RAJA Group. As a successful family business, the RAJA Group offers a great base for the future of our business with immense potential for a fruitful collaboration and development. The strategic realignment to our business made us attractive for our strategic buyer RAJA and provides a great position to further drive our business together. We would like to thank AURELIUS for the good and successful cooperation and support during this fundamental transformation over the past years.”
Danièle Kapel-Marcovici, RAJA Group CEO: “This acquisition represents a tremendous strategic opportunity to strengthen our positions in Europe, in particular in these seven countries, where we are already present with our RAJA subsidiaries. It will further expand the Group’s presence and give new impetus to our ambition in the office supplies market. This acquisition is perfectly aligned with our strategic vision of becoming a global partner of European companies from start-ups to major multinationals and will reinforce our partnership with globally known brands. I am delighted to welcome into our Group the 1,500 new employees with recognized skills and professionalism.”
RAJA Group, a successful family business, and the Office Depot Europe and Viking businesses complement each other well and are a solid foundation from which to drive the business further together.
The transaction is subject to approval by the competition authorities and is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2021. The financial terms of the deal are undisclosed.