SPOTLIGHT
A GOOD fit OPI’s Spotlight heads to Portugal, a year after stationery company Firmo acquired the local Staples operations – by Andy Braithwaite
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ust over 12 months ago, Firmo was a relatively unknown name in the European and international business products world. That all changed in May 2021 when the Portugal-based group closed the acquisition of the country’s retail-orientated Staples business. Overnight, Firmo was transformed from a €20 million ($25 million) manufacturing and distribution company with around 150 employees into an omnichannel entity with annual revenue of about €110 million and more than 750 staff members. The history of Firmo dates back to 1951 when it was founded by three brothers, one of whom was the grandfather of Rui and Miguel Carvalho, the respective President and VP of the group today. By the 1990s, the company – under the leadership of Rui and Miguel’s father – consisted of three main divisions: the manufacturing and converting of paper and stationery products; a wholesaling and distribution arm; and a merchanting business for the graphic paper industry. It had also opened two cash-and-carry stores, one in its home city of Porto and the other in the country’s capital Lisbon.
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CHANGE OF OWNERSHIP The operator was doing so well that it attracted interest from abroad. In 1998, it was acquired by manufacturing and distribution giant Arjo Wiggins Appleton, with Firmo being rebranded to Antalis in the early 2000s. The sale signalled the exit of the Carvalho family. Rui and Miguel pursued careers outside the industry, the former in telecoms and his younger brother in finance. In 2011, with Antalis looking to offload non-core assets, they saw an opportunity to reclaim the family business, buying back the manufacturing and wholesaling activities and re-establishing the Firmo name. Fast-forward almost ten more years, and another opportunity presented itself. This time, it was in the retail channel as Staples Solutions looked to divest the various components of its
Rui (l) & Miguel Carvalho
business throughout Europe. One of the last pieces of the puzzle was in Portugal, where the 34-store retail chain – which began life in 1996 – was clearly not a B2B business that would interest the likes of Bruneau, Lyreco or RAJA. However, retail was not a core competency at Firmo either. Nevertheless, Rui Carvalho believes the acquisition – for which the financial details were not published – made good sense strategically. “There is a strong, positive awareness of the Staples name in Portugal,” he says, adding that Firmo has a perpetual licence for the brand in the country. “The acquisition was very good news for our own production – both for supplying private label and our branded products – meaning there are industrial and commercial synergies for us.” The purchase also led to opportunities in the B2B space. In 2016, Firmo had set up its own direct operations, selling envelopes and other stationery products to corporations and public sector clients. Around 10% of Staples Portugal’s revenue came from B2B, and these activities have now been merged into one unit, called Staples Corporate. “This is an area of the business we are really looking to develop,” states Carvalho. “It was a segment facing many challenges during the
