On Dec. 2, office products conglomerate Office Depot, which mails the Viking Office Products catalog, agreed to sell its Australian operations to Officeworks. Terms of the deal, which are expected to be finalized by the end of the year, were not disclosed.
Officeworks is a subsidiary of Australian cataloger/retailer Coles Myer. Office Depot’s Australian operations include the country’s Viking Office Products and Viking Direct businesses. Viking’s Australian business generates about $150 million in annual sales; the unit has 128,000 customers.
“While our Viking Australian operations have achieved success over the past nine years, industry consolidation has made it difficult to continue to grow shareholder value in Australia,” Office Depot chairman/CEO Bruce Nelson said in a statement. “We continue to have tremendous opportunities for growth and expansion in Europe, where the majority of our international operations now reside, and this sale is the right strategic move for Office Depot to ensure sustainable growth in shareholder value over the longer-term.”