The ream team
Staples-Office Depot deal 1 step closer
THAT WAS ALMOST too easy.
The creation of an office supply behemoth via the impending merger of the industry’s two largest chains took a huge step forward Friday.
Office Depot shareholders voted almost unanimously in favor of Staples’ $6.3 billion offer to buy its smaller rival in a deal that was initiated in February.
No. 2 retailer Office Depot said 99.5% of its shareholders gave it the thumbs up, clearing another hurdle as the combined companies look to fend off competition from the likes of online rival Amazon, discount retailers such as Walmart and big-box warehouse stores. “The deal can certainly help with the procurement power of the combined companies, and the savings should be passed along to commercial as well as individual customers, ” Burt Flickinger, managing director of consumer goods consulting firm Strategic Resource Group, told the Daily News.
But the merger of industry leader Staples with Office Depot — which acquired then-No. 3 OfficeMax in 2013 for about $1 billion — is expected to come under intense scrutiny by the Federal Trade Commission.
That deal was approved fairly quickly with Staples around to provide marketplace ballast.
“But this could be one of the more challenging deals to get approval,” said Flickinger of the Staples-Office Depot tieup.
“While Internet companies can certainly be seen as competition, the FTC typically doesn’t allow the consolidation of the top three companies go down to two, let alone from two to one, in the brick-andmortar space.”