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Information On Business Segments
 9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2020
Segment Reporting [Abstract]  
Information on Business Segments
17. Information on Business Segments

The Company has three operating business segments each of which is comprised of different geographic regions. The Company's three segments are as follows:
Operating SegmentGeographyPrimary BrandsPrimary Products
ACCO Brands North AmericaUnited States and Canada
Five Star®, Quartet®, AT-A-GLANCE®, GBC®, Swingline®, Kensington®, Mead®, and Hilroy®
School notebooks, planners, dry erase boards, storage and organization products (3-ring binders), stapling, punching, laminating, binding products, and computer accessories
ACCO Brands EMEAEurope, Middle East and Africa
Leitz®, Rapid®, Esselte®, Kensington®, Rexel® GBC®, NOBO®, and Derwent®
Storage and organization products (lever-arch binders, sheet protectors, indexes), stapling, punching, laminating, shredding, do-it-yourself tools, dry erase boards, writing instruments and computer accessories
ACCO Brands InternationalAustralia/N.Z., Latin America and Asia-Pacific
Tilibra®, GBC®, Barrilito®, Foroni®, Marbig®, Kensington®, Artline®*, Wilson Jones®, Quartet®, Spirax®, and Rexel®
*Australia/N.Z. only
School notebooks, planners, dry erase boards, storage and organization products (binders, sheet protectors and indexes), stapling, punching, laminating, shredding, writing instruments, janitorial supplies and computer accessories

Each business segment designs, markets, sources, manufactures and sells recognized consumer and other end-user demanded branded products used in businesses, schools and homes. Product designs are tailored to end-user preferences in each geographic region, and where possible, leverage common engineering, design, and sourcing.

Our product categories include storage and organization; stapling; punching; laminating, shredding and binding machines; dry erase boards; notebooks; calendars; computer accessories; and do-it-yourself tools, among others. Our portfolio includes both globally and regionally recognized brands. The revenue in North America and International segments includes significant sales of consumer products that have very important, seasonal selling periods related to back-to-school and calendar year-end. For North America and Mexico, back-to-school straddles the second and third quarters, and for the Southern Hemisphere it takes place in the fourth and first quarter. We expect sales of consumer products to become a greater percentage of our revenue because demand for consumer back-to-school products is growing faster than demand for most business-related and calendar products.

Customers

We distribute our products through a wide variety of retail and commercial channels to ensure that they are readily and conveniently available for purchase by consumers and other end-users, wherever they prefer to shop. These channels include mass retailers; e-tailers; discount, drug/grocery and variety chains; warehouse clubs; hardware and specialty stores; independent office product dealers; office superstores; wholesalers; and contract stationers. We also sell directly to commercial and consumer end-users through our e-commerce sites and our direct sales organization.
Net sales by business segment for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2020 and 2019 were as follows:
Three Months Ended September 30,Nine Months Ended September 30,
(in millions)2020201920202019
ACCO Brands North America$238.5 $272.4 $638.0 $740.7 
ACCO Brands EMEA136.4 133.1 352.2 407.9 
ACCO Brands International69.2 100.2 204.9 269.7 
Net sales$444.1 $505.7 $1,195.1 $1,418.3 

Operating income by business segment for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2020 and 2019 was as follows:
Three Months Ended September 30,Nine Months Ended September 30,
(in millions)2020201920202019
ACCO Brands North America$22.9 $33.7 $67.9 $101.1 
ACCO Brands EMEA16.7 13.8 26.9 37.1 
ACCO Brands International3.7 10.8 5.2 20.5 
Segment operating income43.3 58.3 100.0 158.7 
Corporate(9.0)(9.5)(29.8)(30.6)
Operating income(1)
34.3 48.8 70.2 128.1 
Interest expense10.2 11.5 28.7 33.6 
Interest income(0.2)(0.7)(0.8)(2.9)
Non-operating pension income(1.4)(1.3)(4.4)(4.1)
Other expense (income), net0.1 (0.9)0.8 0.1 
Income before income tax$25.6 $40.2 $45.9 $101.4 

(1)Operating income as presented in the segment table above is defined as i) net sales; ii) less cost of products sold; iii) less selling, general and administrative expenses; iv) less amortization of intangibles; and v) less restructuring charges.