Staples Inc. wants to buy Corporate Express to expand its reach into foreign markets such as Europe and Canada, Staples chairman and chief executive Ron Sargent said Monday in Denver.
“In Europe, we’re strong in the retail and catalog segments but not in the contract segment,” or sales and delivery to large corporations, Sargent told shareholders at the company’s annual meeting at the Ritz-Carlton Denver downtown. “It’s the same thing in Canada. . . . I think we could create a lot of value for our shareholders by bringing the best practices of Staples to Corporate Express.”
Corporate Express specializes in office-product sales to companies. Framingham, Mass.-based Staples is the world’s largest office-products retailer.
Staples has made several offers for Corporate Express, which is based in Amsterdam, Netherlands, and has its U.S. headquarters in Broomfield. Staples made a final offer for Corporate Express last week of $2.6 billion.
Corporate Express last month announced plans to buy French rival Lyreco SAS for $2.7 billion. Staples’ offer is contingent on Corporate Express shareholders rejecting the Lyreco purchase.
Wayne Aiello, a former Corporate Express vice president and Staples shareholder, attended the annual meeting to find out what Staples plans to do with his former employer. He said Monday’s meeting provided few answers.
“I want to know what it means for Corporate Express. Nobody knows,” he said. “It has people (at Corporate Express) kind of nervous.”
Greg Griffin: 303-954-1241 or ggriffin@denverpost.com
