It appears that Staples is adhering to the adage, “hope for the best, prepare for the worst,” when it comes to their challenged billion-dollar merger with rival Office Depot. This week, the retailer took steps to streamline its operation, changing its management team and reportedly laying off hundreds of employees at its headquarters. [More]
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Staples, Office Depot Extend Merger Deadline To Fight Antitrust Lawsuit
By 1.20.16
Just because the Federal Trade Commission went to court in an effort to block the pending merger of Staples and Office Depot, doesn’t mean the companies are putting the mega-deal behind them. In fact, the office-supply chains have extend the contract for their proposed $6.3 billion merger to allow more time to placate antitrust regulators. [More]
Federal Regulators Still Objecting To Marriage Of Staples And Office Depot
By 12.21.15
Earlier this month, the Federal Trade Commission went to court in an effort to block the pending merger of office-supply mega chains Staples and Office Depot, saying that it would result in too little competition in the market for supplies being sold to businesses. Since then, Staples has tried to revise the deal to make it more palatable, but to no avail. [More]
FTC Says Staples-Office Depot Deal Is A No-Go, Files Antitrust Lawsuit To Stop Mega-Merger
By 12.7.15
The nightmare dream of the formation of the $6.3 billion StaplesMaxDepot Voltron has officially hit a (very big) speed bump: federal regulators unsurprisingly filed a complaint today charging that the proposed mega-merger’s affect on commercial businesses would violate antitrust laws. [More]
Regulators Reportedly Poised To Block Staples, Office Depot Mega-Merger
By 12.1.15
Providing office supplies for commercial businesses could be the final nail in the coffin of the would-be formation of the $6.3 billion StaplesMaxDepot Voltron, with regulators reportedly poised to block the mega-merger next week. [More]
Sale Of Commercial Supply Business Could Let Staples-Office Depot Merger Go Through
By 10.26.15
One of the barriers to the formation of the StaplesMaxDepot office-supply Voltron has been the commercial supply businesses that both companies run: in addition to running retail stores, they both also do business delivering office supplies to corporate clients. One possibility could let the mega-merger go forward: Staples could sell its commercial supply business to competitor Essendant. [More]
Office Depot, Staples Merger Under Scrutiny In Europe
By 9.25.15
The $6.3 billion merger between the top two office supply chains has hit yet another bump: the European Union opened an “extensive” investigation into the would-be union of Staples and rival Office Depot. [More]
Antitrust Concerns For Staples, Office Depot Merger Now Center On Corporate Supply Contracts
By 9.10.15
In an effort to gain approval for their $6.3 billion proposed marriage to Staples, Office Depot announced last month it would close about 400 stores. While that move could certainly help the merger process, it appears that federal regulators are less worried about retail sales at physical stores, and more concerned about their contracts to provide supplies to large corporations and businesses. [More]
Office Depot Plans To Close 400 Stores By The End Of 2016
By 8.4.15
Office Depot and Staples are the country’s two largest remaining big-box office supplies chains, and earlier this year, Staples proposed to to acquire Office Depot. While the two companies wait for the Federal Trade Commission to bless the marriage or call off the engagement, Office Depot has announced plans to speed up its store closings, with a goal of shuttering 400 stores by the end of 2016. [More]
Office Depot, Staples One Step Closer To Walking Down The Office Supply-Wedding Aisle
By 6.19.15
Back in February Staples presented Office Depot with a freshly sharpened bouquet of pencils (really, $6.3 billion) as a token of its desire to live as one for the rest of their office supply days. Now, three months later, Office Depot has accepted the proposal. [More]
Staples Finally Proposes To Office Depot With $6.3 Billion Merger Deal
By 2.4.15
A day after it was reported that Staples and Office Depot had entered into advanced talks about a merger, it appears one of the companies popped the big question. Staples will buy Office Depot for $6.3 billion in cash and stock in a deal to bring the No. 1 and No. 2 office supply chains together to do battle with big box stores and online retailers. [More]
Staples, Office Depot Take Another Step Toward Merger, Enter “Advanced Talks”
By 2.3.15
Just weeks after activist investor Starboard Value publicly demanded Staples and Office Depot get hitched, the two office supply stores are apparently taking talks of a walk down the aisle seriously. [More]
Investor Demands Staples, Office Depot Begin Courting, Hoping To Hear Wedding Bells Soon
By 1.20.15
There’s a fine line between offering helpful suggestions and aggressively pushing for someone to do what you want. When it comes to activist investors Starboard Value, they tend to fall squarely in the latter camp – who can forget their harsh words for Olive Garden and ruthless take over of its board of directors? The firm appears to be back at it by not-so-nicely suggesting that Staples get a move on with regard to a possible merger with Office Depot. [More]
Office Supply Marriage? Investor Reportedly Pushing For Staples, Office Depot Merger
By 12.11.14
Just a few months after roundly mocking Olive Garden and then seizing seats on its board of directors, the activist investors at Starboard Value are reportedly hoping to arrange the marriage of office supply retailers Staples and Office Depot. [More]
Office Depot Will Open For 3 Hours On Thanksgiving Day
By 11.13.14
In another blow for that holiday that we used to call “Thanksgiving,” the newly merged Office Depot and OfficeMax will open for a few hours on Thanksgiving Day, delivering doorbusters to the masses from 6 PM to 9 PM, closing again until 12:01 AM on Friday. [More]
Forget Black Friday, Holiday Shopping Season Starts Tomorrow
By 10.31.14
While children and parents around the country are sitting around, regretting the huge amount of sugar and chocolate consumed tonight, the folks at Walmart, Amazon and other stores are not only busting out the holiday decorations, but reducing prices and offering short-term large-scale sales for early holiday shoppers. [More]
Office Depot Shuttering 400 Stores, Because No One Wants To Compete Against Themselves
By 5.6.14
Are too many office supplies a bad thing? Apparently so for Office Depot and Office Max. As the merger of the two companies gets underway an overlap of stores in the same areas means some stores will be closing their doors. [More]
FTC Gives Marriage Of OfficeMax & Office Depot Its Blessing
By 11.1.13
We just knew these two crazy kids were going to earn the hard-won approval of the stern ol’ Federal Trade Commission. The two office supply companies who once were two now have the way paved for them to become one through the process of merging. It’s just like a fairy tale, if you read really weird fairy tales as a kid. [More]
