Office Mate announces the acquisition of Office Club and B2S

Office Mate PCL, operator of “Office Mate” and “Trendyday.com,” announces the acquisition of Office Club (Thai) Co., Ltd., the operator of “Office Depot” in Thailand, and B2S Co. Ltd,- operator of “B2S”. Office Mate is the leading catalog and on-line supplier of office products and supplies and Trendyday.com markets the latest in trendy products. Office Depot is the leading office and business supply retailer while B2S is the number one bookstore, stationary and media retailer. Both Office Depot and B2S are owned by the Chirathivat family in Thailand. Mr. Worawoot Ounjai, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Office Mate PLC., said that “the acquisition of Office Club (Thai) and B2S will create synergies as each company has differing strong points that can compliment each other. Office Mate has catalogue sale, call center, e-commerce and e-procurement know-how. Both Office Mate and Trendyday have strong brand awareness among Thai customers. B2S and Office Club (Thai) are the number one retail specialty stores in their categories in Thailand with a total of 117 stores covering numerous major areas. The merger will enhance Office Mate to provide more service channels for customers. In addition, B2S’s wide range of products including books, entertainment, music and movie, will help increase product variety and expand more customer database for Office Mate.” Mr. Tos Chirathivat, on behalf of the Chirathivat family said “combing Office Club (Thai) and B2S to Office Mate, which is the leading retail online, will help offer more sale channels and offer more products’ variety for customers of these 3 companies. We are confident that the transfer will help management become more efficient and provide better quality of service we offer for customers. “After the transfer, we will re-organization chart of Office Mate to maximize efficiency and effectiveness. Mr. Worawoot will remain as Chief Executive Officer for Office Mate, managing 3 main businesses including Office Mate, Office Club (Thai) and B2S.” For 2012, B2S and Office Club (Thai)’s estimated assets are projected to be 3.4bn 2012 year end, with total sales of more than 6.7 billion Baht. Post transaction, Office Mate will have total assets of 4 billion Baht and expect to have total annual sale of 8 billion Baht. As part of the transaction, Office Mate will issue 240 million new common shares to the Chirathivat family. The Chirathivat family will become the major shareholder with for 75 per cent of the combined business while existing Office Mate shareholder will hold 25 per cent. Office Mate will call a for special shareholder’s session approve registering the shares on the Stock Exchange of Thailand main board by way of back door listing. The transaction is expected to complete by the end of 2012.-KP- Click for photo release at www.thaipr.net

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• ข่าวOffice Depot
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