Allen & Overy advises RAJA Group on the acquisition of Viking and its Office Depot Europe operating business
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Allen & Overy Paris advised RAJA Group, Europe's leading multichannel distributor of supplies and equipment for businesses, on the conclusion of an agreement with Aurelius to acquire the Viking business operations, including the Office Depot Europe operating business, in seven European countries: the UK, Ireland, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, the Netherlands and Belgium.
Viking, an iconic brand of Office Depot Europe’s e-commerce activities, is a major player in the BtoB distribution of office supplies and furniture in Europe. The business employs around 1.500 people and generates revenues of close to EUR500 million.
This acquisition is part of RAJA Group's sales growth, customer base expansion, and product diversification strategy, and will bring additional growth opportunities in the years to come as well as a solid foundation for developing its activity in Europe. It will allow the Group to serve more than 2.2 million customers in Europe and reach turnover of EUR1.6 billion.
The transaction is subject to approval by the competition authorities and is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2021.
The Allen & Overy team was led in Paris by Corporate partner Marc Castagnède, supported by senior associate Flora Leon-Servière, with counsel Laurie-Anne Ancenys on IT/data protection aspects, partner Florence Ninane and her team on competition aspects and Peerpoint Consultant Alexis Valot on intellectual property aspects. The team also included lawyers from Allen & Overy Netherlands.
The RAJA Group was also advised by KPMG on tax and financial aspects.