Staples (SPLS) and Office Depot (ODP) announced on Wednesday a $6.3bn plan to join forces to compete against big box stores and online rivals. Under the terms of the agreement, Office Depot shareholders will receive, for each Office Depot share, $7.25 in cash and 0.2188 of a share in Staples stock at closing. Based on the closing prices on Tuesday, the deal was valued at about $11.41 per Office Depot share, a 44 percent premium to where the stock was trading before news of the impending deal leaked on Monday night.
Despite public pressure from an activist investor, Starboard Value, beginning late last year, the two companies said that work on the merger had begun months ago, with the discussions beginning in September. Source
