How Do You Say 'Office Depot' in Australian?

Office Depot, Inc. (Delray Beach, Fla.), has announced an agreement to purchase the assets of a Western Australian counterpart, Sands & McDougall, the largest contract stationer in Western Australia and operator of eight 1200-sq.-ft. retail stores in and around Perth.

Sands & McDougall, a family-owned, privately held company, has been in the office supply business since 1884, operating from a centrally located warehouse in Perth, Western Australia.

The transaction is expected to give Office Depot's Australian operation better distribution capabilities around the continent. Office Depot currently operates under the Viking Office Products brand in Australia. It takes orders and distributes product from two warehouses in Sydney and Melbourne, and services its customers in the western region of Australia from its Melbourne operations. But as a result of this transaction, the Sands & McDougall warehouse in Perth will now handle Viking Office Products'Western Australian customers.

The terms of the transaction, expected to close at the end of the month, were not disclosed. The acquisition involves the purchase of certain assets and liabilities of the office products business, including the warehouse, inventory and retail stores.

Viking Office Products was established in 1960 as a U.S. company selling office products to small and medium-sized businesses through direct marketing catalogs. Viking's operations consist of operations throughout Europe (the U.K., Republic of Ireland, France, the Netherlands, Germany, Austria, Belgium, Luxembourg and Italy) and Japan. It began its Australian operation in 1993, and merged with Office Depot in 1998.

Office Depot operates 824 office-supply superstores in the U.S. and Canada, and has retail operations around the world — 23 office supply stores in France and seven in Japan that it owns and operates; and 97 additional office supply stores under joint-venture and licensing agreements in five foreign countries.