ODP holder files proxy for nominees

DELRAY BEACH, Fla. Office Depot investor, know as the Woodbridge Group, filed a proxy statement on March 27, pressing shareholders to vote for its director nominees, Mark Begelman, former president and coo of Office Depot, and Martin Hanaka, former president and coo of Staples.

The Woodbridge Group first announced its intentions to nominate Begelman and Hanaka on March 17. Office Depot responded, telling its shareholders to reject the group's nominations and vote for the company's nominees for directors.

In a letter to its investors, Office Depot stated, "Your board of directors strongly urges all Office Depot stockholders to reject the dissident nominees and to vote for the company's directors."

The company went on to say that Levitt's attempt to remove the current and former chairman and ceo of Office Depot would be "highly disruptive" and could hurt its chances for a successful turnaround.

Office Depot cited a challenging economic environment as the reason for its performance, but noted that its sales were up 3% in 2007 over 2006.