His full order is scheduled to be released next week.
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“We are extremely disappointed that the FTC’s request for preliminary injunction was granted despite the fact that it failed to define the relevant market correctly, and fell woefully short of proving its case”, Staples CEO, Ron Sargent, added. It will also explore other options, including a possible sale of its European operations that consist of about 200 stores. Under the terms of agreement Staples will pay Office Depot a $250m break-up fee.
“I don’t know that Office Depot can stay in business”, Jim Cramer said on SquawkBox, which pointed to consumers turning more and more to e-commerce and to Amazon’s record stock price Tuesday of $703.07, up 3.43 percent.
NEW YORK (AP) – U.S. stock indexes are falling Wednesday as Macy’s leads a rout in retail stocks.
Office Depot shares dived 38% to $3.77, while Staples stock plunged 16.12% to $8.69 per share.
Tuesday’s loss is a considerable blow for the companies, which hoped the deal would boost their fortunes after years of sinking revenues. It won a decision in 1997 that prevented the companies from joining forces.
In Feb 2015, Staples had announced that it will acquire Office Depot for $6.3 billion. Office Depot Chief Executive Officer Roland Smith said in a statement after the decision that the retailer will host a conference call later this month to discuss its strategy as a stand-alone company.
Staples Inc. (NASDAQ:SPLS) and Office Depot Inc.
Those struggles didn’t end up costing the FTC the case. The deal was killed amid good old fashioned worries about competition. The injunction would have stopped the deal while the FTC challenged it.
Earlier, both Staples and Office Depot had stated that the merger would help generate net synergies in excess of $1 billion over the three-year integration period. The company has a market worth of $219.16B.
OIL: Already trading at its highest price in six months, benchmark USA crude rose $1.26, or 2.8 percent, to $45.91 a barrel in NY.
Office Depot, Inc. (Office Depot) is a provider of office products and services.
The FTC sued to block the merger late in 2015, arguing that business customers would have much less bargaining power if Office Depot disappeared.
The two office supplies giants abandoned their $6.3 billion merger after a federal judge sided with the FTC on antitrust grounds. Inherently, the office supplies industry is also witnessing a major decline in demand, as corporate clients resort to online resources and cut back on office tools and supplies.
South Florida economist Ken Thomas also penned letters to the FTC to oppose the combination, which he said would hurt consumers. Staples’ buyout offer was valued at about $10.36 per Office Depot share.
The deal was ruled against – in the United States district court for the District of Columbia – due to concerns about competition in the office supply retail space.
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Following the lawsuit, the two companies had filed request to appeal the FTC’s decision.
