Staples Plans To Buy Office Depot’s Consumer Business In $1B Deal

The sale would leave Office Depot a business-to-business product and services company, including its CompuCom business, its Grand & Toy Canadian-focused workplace products and solution provider, its Office Depot federation of smaller office supply dealers acquired over the years and other assets.

Retail office supplies giant Staples Friday said it plans to acquire the consumer-focused business of Office Depot, including the Office Depot and OfficeMax brand names, in a $1 billion deal that would leave Office Depot completely focused on the business-to-business market.

The acquisition proposal is the latest in a long-running dance between the two competitors. Staples in January offered to acquire Office Depot in a $2.1 billion deal that would likely see Staples divest Office Depot’s B2B-focused CompuCom and/or its Business Solutions Division.

In the deal, outlined in a letter released by Framingham, Mass.-based USR Parent, the parent company of Staples, the company is offering to spend about $18.27 per share to acquire Office Depot’s consumer business, which is about 43 percent of the 30-day average closing share price for Office Depot as of June 2.

[Related: 4 Reasons Why Staples-Office Depot Deal Could Get The Green Light]

Neither Office Depot or Staples replied to a request for further information as of press time.

Office Depot has already been taking steps that, together, open the way for a smooth sale of its consumer business to Staples.

Office Depot in January unveiled a plan to sell its CompuCom IT solution provider business. CompuCom is a large national systems integrator that Office Depot in 2017 acquired for about $1 billion.

Office Depot in May then unveiled a plan to split into two companies based on its retail and B2B businesses.

In the $1 billion deal proposal, Staples Friday said it wants to acquire all assets related to Office Depot’s consumer business, including its Office Depot and OfficeMax retail business, its officedepot.com direct channel business, and the company’s Office Depot and OfficeMax brand names and other intellectual property.

Such a sale would leave Office Depot a business-to-business product and services company, including its CompuCom business, its Grand & Toy Canadian-focused workplace products and solutions provider, its Office Depot federation of smaller office supply dealers acquired over the years, its B2B digital platform technology business, its corporate office, its global sourcing office and its other sourcing, supply chain and logistics assets.

Office Depot would have the right to a royalty-free use of the Office Depot and OfficeMax brand names for an agreed term after the acquisition closes, Staples said.

Staples also said it started working on regulatory approval for the deal in November and expects to “expeditiously obtain” necessary anti-trust approvals.