Office Depot Rejects Staples Offer

Office Depot (Boca Raton, Fla.) has reportedly turned down a $2.1 billion acquisition offer from Sycamore-owned Staples (Framingham, Mass.), according to Retail Dive. However, Office Depot Chair Joseph Vassalluzzo did outline two potential ways forward, including a joint venture or an acquisition by Staples for a price that enables shareholders to benefit.

Vassalluzzo said in a letter: "[The Office Depot board] unanimously concluded that there is a more compelling path forward … [including] combining our retail and consumer-facing ecommerce operations with Staples under the right set of circumstances and on mutually acceptable terms."

Office Depot is moving ahead with a sale of CompuCom, after a review of the IT services unit, which the retailer bought in 2017.