Office Depot Mexico to Invest $50m in Colombia

Office Depot Mexico (ODM), a joint venture between Grupo Gigante and Office Depot, will invest about $50m over a 5-year period to enter and expand in Colombia, Sergio Montero, a spokesman for Gigante, tells LatinFinance. Montero says that expansions will be financed using cash on hand and that while it is preferable for ODM to grow organically in Colombia, potential acquisitions might be considered. He also says that no financial advisor is on board at the moment. The company plans to open its first store in Colombia in late 2009, Montero adds. ODM also plans to next year open 10-20 stores in Mexico and possibly CentAm, versus almost 30 stores opened in the region so far this year.