UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
FORM 8-K
CURRENT REPORT
PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934
Date of Report (Date of earliest event reported) January 7, 2003
Commission file number 1-10948
OFFICE DEPOT, INC.
(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)
Delaware 59-2663954
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(State or other jurisdiction of (I.R.S. Employer
incorporation or organization) Identification No.)
2200 Old Germantown Road, Delray Beach, Florida 33445
(Address of principal executive offices) (Zip Code)
(561) 438-4800
(Registrant's telephone number, including area code)
Former name or former address, if changed since last report: N/A
ITEM 7. FINANCIAL STATEMENTS AND EXHIBITS
(c) Exhibits
99.1 Press release of Office Depot, Inc. issued on January 7, 2003.
ITEM 9. INFORMATION FURNISHED PURSUANT TO REGULATION FD
On January 7, 2003, Office Depot, Inc. issued a press release to announce
completion of the sale of its Australian subsidiary to Officeworks Pty. Ltd. A
copy of the press release is attached hereto as Exhibit 99.1 and incorporated by
reference herein.
SIGNATURE
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934,
the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the
undersigned thereunto duly authorized.
OFFICE DEPOT, INC.
Date: January 7, 2003 By: /S/ DAVID C. FANNIN
David C. Fannin
Executive Vice President and
General Counsel
OFFICE DEPOT
CONTACT: Eileen H. Dunn
Vice President, Investor Relations/Public Relations
561/438-4930
edunn@officedepot.com
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OFFICE DEPOT COMPLETES DISPOSITION OF AUSTRALIAN SUBSIDIARY
(Delray Beach, FL) January 7, 2003 - OFFICE DEPOT, INC. (NYSE: ODP), the world's
largest seller of office products, today announced that it has completed the
sale of its Viking Office Products, Inc. Australian operations to Officeworks
Superstores Pty, Ltd., a subsidiary of Coles Myer Ltd. Terms of the transaction
were not disclosed but were in line with Company expectations for the
divestiture.
ABOUT OFFICE DEPOT
No one sells more office products to more customers in more countries through
more channels than Office Depot. As the largest seller of office products around
the world, the Company operates under the Office Depot(R), Viking Office
Products(R), Viking Direct(R) and 4Sure.com(R) brand names. As of September 28,
2002, Office Depot operated 861 office supply superstores in the United States
and Canada, in addition to a national business-to-business delivery network
supported by 24 delivery centers, more than 60 local sales offices and 13
regional call centers. Furthermore, the Company sells products and services in
18 countries outside of the United States and Canada, including 32 office supply
stores in France and 12 in Japan that are owned and operated by the Company; and
115 additional office supply stores under joint venture and licensing agreements
operating under the Office Depot name in six foreign countries.
The Company operates an award-winning U.S. Office Depot brand Web site at
www.officedepot.com where customers can access Office Depot's low competitive
prices seven days a week, twenty-four hours a day, as well as a new Web site
that targets the school supply market at www.school.com. The Company also
operates twenty additional Web sites, under the Office Depot and Viking Office
Products names, in the U.S., Canada and ten international countries including:
Austria, Belgium, France, Japan, Germany, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands and
the United Kingdom.
Office Depot's common stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the
symbol ODP and is included in the S&P 500 Index.
CAUTIONARY STATEMENT REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS: Except for historical
information, the matters discussed in this press release are forward-looking
statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of
1995, as amended. Forward-looking statements, including without limitation all
of the projections and anticipated levels of future performance, involve risks
and uncertainties which may cause actual results to differ materially from those
discussed herein. These risks and uncertainties are detailed from time to time
by Office Depot in its filings with the United States Securities and Exchange
Commission ("SEC"), including without limitation its most recent filing on Form
10-K, filed on March 19, 2002. You are strongly urged to review all such filings
for a more detailed discussion of such risks and uncertainties. The Company's
SEC filings are readily obtainable at no charge at www.sec.gov and at
www.freeEDGAR.com, as well as on a number of other commercial Web sites.