Staples Inc. reaches agreement to purchase Corporate Express $4.8b

Staples Inc. has reached an agreement to acquire Corporate Express NV for $4.8 billion. Corporate Express, a Dutch company that delivers office supplies directly to businesses, unanimously approved the cash offer by Staples to pay $14.30 per share. The agreement ends months of Staples' attempts to takeover Corporate Express, which has now terminated its merger agreement with Lyreco. In the agreement with Staples, Corporate Express' CEO Peter Ventress will become president of Staples International, a new position that will oversee Staples' business outside of the U.S. and Canada; he will report to Ron Sargent, Staples' president and CEO. Ventress will play a key part in managing the integration of the two companies going forward, according to a Staples statement. "We believe that this offer is a good one for our shareholders and we recommend it wholeheartedly," said Ventress. The combination of Staples and Corporate Express is expected to create significant benefits for the combined company's shareholders, customers, employees and other stakeholders, said Staples. The move will help boost contract business for Staples in Europe and Canada, while fueling Staples' North American Delivery business in the U.S., which is currently Staples' fastest growing and most profitable business unit. The move will also extend Staples' geographic reach to Australia and New Zealand. Staples, an office supplies retailer, is based in Framingham, Mass. It reached $19.4 billion in sales in 2007. The companies' 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.