RAJA Group acquires Viking and Office Depot Europe operating business

August 17, 2021

AURELIUS, the shareholder of Office Depot Europe, has announced 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 a European 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, 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 an e-commerce player.

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 said: “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.”

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.