Two of Bermuda?s largest office suppliers are set to merge at the end of July, management said yesterday.

Under the deal, A.F. Smith, believed to be the Island?s largest seller of office supplies and equipment, and Staples Limited, also one of the Island?s biggest office suppliers, will become one company. The merger is pending certain unspecified conditions being met, management said in a statement.

The merger could result in staff cuts but it is too soon to say where or when redundancies will be made, A.F. Smith chief executive Tim Smith said. A.F. Smith currently has about 40 staff, and Staples has 36 employees.

Neither party disclosed financial terms of the deal. A.F. Smith has been in operation since 1975, while Staples formed in 1991.

?The two companies share similar philosophies when it comes to offering innovative solutions,? said Mr. Smith, who less than six months ago oversaw another merger.

The company will be known as A.F. Smith after the merger. Mr. Smith will remain chief executive while Michael Johnson, Staples? current president and chief executive, will stay on to assist Mr. Smith with the integration process. Mr. Smith said it wasn?t clear how long that process would take.

?We are considering several different business models,? for the combined firm, he said, in a telephone interview. Talks between the two companies began, informally, about two months ago, he added.

In November, A.F Smith bolstered its position amongst document management companies through an amalgamation between its affiliate company, Digital Documents, and Central Filing Ltd. Under that merger, the company continued under the Digital Documents name.