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US: Office Depot lays out plans after ending Staples merger

By  |  May 17, 2016

After ending its proposed merger with Staples, Office Depot on Monday laid out the possibility of selling off European operations, making additional acquisitions and increasing markets like break room and cleaning supplies.

“We fully understand the future success of Office Depot will require bold new action,” CEO Roland Smith said during an investor conference.

The office-supply companies formally terminated their merger agreement six days after a federal judge blocked Staples’ $6.3 billion purchase of Office Depot because of antitrust concerns.

Staples will pay Office Depot a $250 million breakup fee on May 19. Office Depot said it may leverage its assets and the breakup money to make its own acquisitions.

Smith said the company also may move forward with plans to shed European operations, which would have been a condition of the merger in Europe. The divestiture was underway for a couple of months before US District Judge Emmet G. Sullivan granted the Federal Trade Commission’s request for an injunction against the merger.

Full Content: Sun Sentinel

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