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Thursday, December 11, 2014

Starboard extends bet on office supply sector with Staples stake, (NASDAQ: ODP), (NASDAQ: SPLS)

Activist investor Starboard Value LP disclosed a 5.1 percent stake in Staples Inc and raised its holdings in Office Depot Inc to about 10 percent, possibly setting the stage for a merger of the struggling office-supply retailers.Staples shares jumped 13.8 percent to $16.86 in heavy premarket trading on Thursday. Office Depot shares rose 8.6 percent to $7.30.Starboard's stake in Staples is worth about $483 million, based on the company's closing price on Wednesday.Starboard, which held an 8.6 percent in Office Depot as of Sept. 10, did not announce any plans for the companies in its regulatory filings on Thursday. (1.usa.gov/1yU35DM)

Office Depot, Inc. (Office Depot) is a global supplier of office products and services. Shares of ODP traded higher by 2.67% or $0.175/share to $6.72. In the past year, the shares have traded as low as $3.84 and as high as $7.01. On average, 9871670 shares of ODP exchange hands on a given day and today's volume is recorded at 24297530.

Staples, Inc. (Staples) is an office products company. Shares of SPLS traded higher by 2.46% or $0.355/share to $14.82. In the past year, the shares have traded as low as $10.70 and as high as $16.04. On average, 10456500 shares of SPLS exchange hands on a given day and today's volume is recorded at 31350464.



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