Office Depot Enters India Market in Joint Venture

Delray, Fla. Office Depot Inc. announced Tuesday that it has formed a joint venture with a unit of India's Reliance Industries Ltd. to provide office products and services to business customers in India.

The joint venture between Office Depot and Reliance Retail Ltd. has purchased eOfficePlanet, an Indian dealer of office products and services, to help speed up the rollout of its operation

Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.

Sreenivas Nagappa will serve as country manager for Office Depot India and will work out of eOfficePlanet's Mumbia headquarters. EOfficePlanet CEO Shyam Barilits-Gupta will remain part of the company's management team.

Office Depot’s move into India via the joint venture underscores the emerging trend that has retailers around the world eyeing India for growth. In fact, according to a recent survey published this month by CB Richard Ellis, 27% of international retailers surveyed as part of the “Global Emerging Markets Survey” opened their first store in India in the past year or will soon open a store—making India the most sought-after emerging market.