Staples exploring options to purchase assets from competitor ODP
Sycamore Partners-backed (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/staples-close-to-65-billion-sale-to-sycamore-2017-06-28) USR Parent Inc., which is the Staples retail office supply business, says it is evaluating the alternatives to purchase assets belonging to competitor ODP Corp. (ODP) The news comes after ODP announced on March 15 that it has rejected a previous offer from Staples to acquire various assets. In a letter, ODP said it was open to "combining our retail and consumer-facing e-commerce operations with Staples under the right set of circumstances and on mutually acceptable terms, including in the form of a joint venture or potential sale of such assets by ODP. This remains the case." However, ODP says the previous offer from Staples failed to include details including a timeline for completing the transaction or valuation for the assets the company sought to purchase. ODP shares have rallied 38.7% over the past three months, and have gained nearly 149% over the last year. The company has faced business encroachment (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/office-depot-shares-sink-as-amazon-snaps-up-market-share-2019-05-09) by Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN) and others over recent years. The benchmark S&P 500 index is up 53.2% for the last 12 months.
-Tonya Garcia; 415-439-6400; AskNewswires@dowjones.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
March 31, 2021 09:24 ET (13:24 GMT)
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