Office Depot Inc said on Wednesday that it would purchase smaller rival OfficeMax Inc for $1.17 billion in stock to get more clout with suppliers and better compete against Staples Inc and Amazon.com Inc .After days of speculation that a deal was close, the news was buried on the fourth page of Office Depot's earnings press release. Nearly an hour after it came out, there was still no mention on OfficeMax's website.Office Depot will issue 2.69 new shares of common stock for each outstanding common share of OfficeMax. At Tuesday's closing prices, the deal is valued at $13.50 per share, or $1.17 billion, based on 86.7 million shares outstanding as of Oct. 26.After the merger is completed, Office Depot's board will consist of an equal number of directors chosen by that company and OfficeMax.
Amazon.com, Inc. (Amazon.com) serves consumers through its retail Websites and focuses on selection, price, and convenience. Shares of AMZN remained unchanged at $269.75. In the past year, the shares have traded as low as $176.50 and as high as $284.72. On average, 3575370 shares of AMZN exchange hands on a given day and today's volume is recorded at 13300.
Office Depot, Inc. (Office Depot) is a global supplier of office products and services. Shares of ODP remained unchanged at $5.02. In the past year, the shares have traded as low as $1.51 and as high as $6.10. On average, 6317940 shares of ODP exchange hands on a given day and today's volume is recorded at 7781639.
Staples, Inc. (Staples) is an office products company. Shares of SPLS remained unchanged at $14.65. In the past year, the shares have traded as low as $10.57 and as high as $16.93. On average, 11679200 shares of SPLS exchange hands on a given day and today's volume is recorded at 684087.
Source
