Office Depot Announces Departure of Kevin Peters, President, North America

BOCA RATON, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Office Depot (NYSE: ODP) today announced that Kevin Peters, President, North America, is leaving the organization, effective immediately, to take the position of Chief Executive Officer at an industrial distribution company.

“In his five years with Office Depot, Kevin was instrumental in building a strong team while driving the strategic vision for our North American sales channels and our Supply Chain organization”

Neil Austrian, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Office Depot, will oversee the company’s North American business.

"In his five years with Office Depot, Kevin was instrumental in building a strong team while driving the strategic vision for our North American sales channels and our Supply Chain organization,” Austrian said. “We thank him for his many contributions to our company and wish him well in the future.”

About Office Depot

Office Depot provides office supplies and services through 1,675 worldwide retail stores, a field sales force, top-rated catalogs and global e-commerce operations. Office Depot has annual sales of approximately $11.5 billion, employs about 39,000 associates and serves customers in 60 countries around the world.

Office Depot’s common stock is listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol ODP. Additional press information can be found at: http://mediarelations.officedepot.com and http://socialpress.officedepot.com/.

CAUTIONARY STATEMENT REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS: The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, as amended, (the “Act”) provides protection from liability in private lawsuits for “forward-looking” statements made by public companies under certain circumstances, provided that the public company discloses with specificity the risk factors that may impact its future results. We want to take advantage of the “safe harbor” provisions of the Act. Certain statements made in this press release are forward-looking statements under the Act. Except for historical financial and business performance information, statements made in this press release should be considered forward-looking as referred to in the Act. Much of the information that looks towards future performance of our company is based on various factors and important assumptions about future events that may or may not actually come true. As a result, our operations and financial results in the future could differ materially and substantially from those we have discussed in the forward-looking statements made in this press release. Certain risks and uncertainties are detailed from time to time in our filings with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”). 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.