Office Depot and PETCO Animal Supplies Announce Deal for 20 Stores
March 23 2004 - 6:30AM
PR Newswire (US)
Office Depot and PETCO Animal Supplies Announce Deal for 20 Stores
PETCO to Acquire Kids 'R' Us Properties From Office Depot DELRAY
BEACH, Fla. and SAN DIEGO, March 23 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ --
Office Depot, Inc. , one of the world's leading sellersof office
products, and PETCO Animal Supplies, Inc. , a leading specialty
retailer of premium pet food, supplies and services, today
announced that they have reached an agreement under which PETCO
will acquire 20 former Kids "R" Us stores from Office Depot for
approximately $45 million in cash plus the assumption of lease
obligations on leased properties. (Logo:
http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20030603/PETCOLOGO) The 20
stores -- concentrated in Florida and Ohio, with other locations in
Illinois, Kansas, Michigan, North Carolina and New York -- are part
of the 124 Kids "R" Us properties that Office Depot agreed to
purchase on March 3. At that time, Office Depot announced its
commitment to convert 50-60 Kids "R" Us stores to Office Depot
locations as well as its intention to sell the remaining
properties. "Our purchase of the Kids 'R' Us stores has generated
considerable interest from developers and retailers in a very short
time," noted Bruce Nelson, Chairman and CEO of Office Depot. "Weare
pleased to sell these locations to PETCO, an industry leader and
innovative retailer. By arranging this transaction so quickly, we
are able to focus on the realignment of our North American retail
portfolio, specifically, converting and opening new stores in
existing core markets and markets where we need to increase our
retail penetration." "We know these stores well and this
acquisition provides PETCO with a unique opportunity to bolster our
presence in South Florida and Ohio, markets where we are
underrepresented, where approximately one-half of the stores are
located," said Brian Devine, Chairman of PETCO. James Myers, CEO of
PETCO, commented "In addition to enabling us to further penetrate
key markets in an efficient manner, the acquisition of the stores
will be funded without incurring significant capital outlay,
through a sale-leaseback transaction providing traditional store
operating lease financing for PETCO." About Office Depot With
annual sales of more than $12 billion, no one sells more office
supplies to more customers in more countries than Office Depot.
Founded in 1986 and headquartered in Delray Beach, FL, the company
conducts business in 23 countries and employs nearly 50,000 people
worldwide. Office Depot is a leader in every distribution channel
-- from retail stores and contract delivery to catalogs and
e-commerce. The company is the world's number two online retailer
-- generating $2.6B in sales for FY'03. In North America, Office
Depot has 900 retail storesin addition to a national
business-to-business delivery network supported by 22 delivery
centers, more than 60 local sales offices and 13 regional call
centers. The company's common stock is traded on the New York Stock
Exchange under the symbol ODP and is included in the S&P 500
Index. Additional press information can be found at:
http://mediarelations.officedepot.com/. CAUTIONARY STATEMENT
REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS: Except for historical
information, the matters discussed in this pressrelease 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, assumptions as to future conditions, expectations for
the future 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 February 26, 2004 and subsequent 10-Q and 8-K
filings. 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
http://www.sec.gov/ and at http://www.freeedgar.com/, as well as on
a number of other commercial web sites.We will be filing our Annual
Report for 2003 and our Proxy Statement later this month, and we
will hold our Annual Meeting on May 14, 2004. About PETCO Animal
Supplies PETCO is a leading specialty retailer of premium pet food,
supplies and services. PETCO's vision is to best promote, through
its people, the highest level of well-being for companion animals,
and to support the human-animal bond. PETCO generated net sales of
$1.65 billion in fiscal 2003. It operates 654 stores in 43 states
and the District of Columbia, as well as a leading destination for
on-line pet food and supplies at http://www.petco.com/. Since its
inception in 1999, The PETCO Foundation, PETCO's non-profit
organization, has raised more than $15 million in support of
morethan 1,900 non-profit grassroots animal welfare organizations
around the nation. Certain statements in this news release that are
not historical fact constitute "forward-looking statements" within
the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of
1995. Stockholders and other readers are cautioned not to place
undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. Such
forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks,
uncertainties and other factors, which may cause the actual results
of PETCO to be materially different from historical results or from
any results expressed or implied by such forward-looking
statements. These factors, such as performance of new stores,
ability to execute expansion strategy and sustain growth, debt
levels, reliance on vendors and exclusive distribution
arrangements, competition, integration of operations as a result of
acquisitions, compliance with various state and local regulations
and dependence on senior management, are discussed from timeto time
in the reports filed by PETCO with the Securities and Exchange
Commission, including the Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal
year ended February 1, 2003. For more information, please contact
Brian Levine, Director, Public Relations of Office Depot,
+1-561-438-2895, ; or Don Cowan, Director, Public Relations of
PETCO Animal Supplies, Inc., +1-858-657-2086, .
http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20030603/PETCOLOGO
http://photoarchive.ap.org/ DATASOURCE: PETCO Animal Supplies, Inc.
CONTACT: Brian Levine, Director, Public Relations of Office Depot,
+1-561-438-2895, ; or Don Cowan, Director, Public Relations of
PETCO Animal Supplies, Inc., +1-858-657-2086, Web site:
http://mediarelations.officedepot.com/ Web site:
http://www.petco.com/
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