NY -- Standard&Poor's CreditWire 5/19/98 -- Standard&Poor's ratings of Office Depot Inc. remain on CreditWatch with positive implications (See list below). This CreditWatch update follows the company's announced agreement to purchase Viking Office Products Inc., a mail order retailer of office products, for approximately $2.7 billion of Office Depots' stock. Standard&Poor's views the impending all-stock transaction as favorable for the credit rating. Viking, a leader in the mail order segment of the office products delivery business, has no long-term debt and somewhat higher operating margins than Office Depot. The ratings of Office Depot were originally placed on CreditWatch on Feb. 23, 1998. Viking Office Products Inc. of Torrance, Calif., had $1.1 billion in sales
