Acquiring OfficeMax, the third biggest U.S. office products retailer, will more than double the size of Boise Cascade's office products distribution business.

"Clearly, this gains us scale in office solutions," Boise chairman and chief executive officer George Harad said today in a conference call. "It's an excellent fit between complementary businesses."

(Hopaco has eight retail stores in Hawai'i, including five on O'ahu, said Rudy Mayo, Hopaco's general manager. The former Honolulu Paper Co. opened its first store in downtown Honolulu in 1918. It was purchased by Boise Cascade in 1964, and was officially named Hopaco in 1971. OfficeMax has two stores on O'ahu: at Ala Moana and Waikele.)

Under the deal announced today, Boise Cascade will pay $9 a share for OfficeMax, a 25 percent premium over OfficeMax's closing price of $7.18 a share on Friday.

In late morning trading today on the New York Stock Exchange, OfficeMax shares rose $1.48, or 20.6 percent, to $8.66 while Boise shares fell 84 cents, or 3.6 percent, to $22.59.

Boise Cascade plans to pay 30 percent of the price in cash and 70 percent in stock, the companies said in a statement. The cash amount could increase if the value of Boise Cascade shares drop.

The deal has already been unanimously approved by both companies' boards and is subject to customary approvals under antitrust laws and by the shareholders of OfficeMax and Boise Cascade.

Harad said he didn't anticipate any antitrust problems because the companies are more complementary than competitive.

"We really think this creates a major competitor for Staples and Office Depot and therefore should be beneficial for consumers," Harad said.

The acquisition allows customers of all sizes to come to one supplier, he said.

"This business combination gives the newly formulated organization the ability to better serve all channels of the office products market from home offices to small businesses to large corporations," Michael Feuer, OfficeMax's co-founder, chairman and chief executive officer, said in a statement.

Feuer said OfficeMax brings strong brand-name recognition to the deal, which will be incorporated with Boise's contract business.

"Clearly, on the retail side of the business we'd be keeping the OfficeMax brand," Harad said.

About half of Idaho-based Boise Cascade's $7.4 billion in revenues comes from selling office products. The acquisition of OfficeMax positions Boise to better compete with Staples, the largest office retailer, and Office Depot, the second largest chain in the category.

Boise has been shedding jobs to cut costs and lost $27.5 million or 53 cents a share in the first quarter. Boise's stock has fallen 7 percent this year while shares of OfficeMax have gained 44 percent.

Harad said it's too early to know if jobs cuts would be involved in the acquisition. He said no decision has been made about where to locate the business. The companies hope to complete the deal by the end of the year.

Feuer said OfficeMax initiated talks with Boise. "This is really one of those transactions where one plus one equals much more than two," he said.

Cleveland-based OfficeMax sells through nearly 1,000 superstores and via direct mail catalogs and the Internet. It had sales of $4.8 billion in 2002.