Report - Starboard Value increases stake in Staples

New York – Activist investor fund Starboard Value has reportedly purchased a 6% stake in Staples Inc. and upped its ownership of Office Depot from 8.6% to 10%. According to the Wall Street Journal, Starboard Value may be positioning itself to pressure the two office supply retailers to merge.



Starboard Value did not specify any plans for the retailers in its disclosure of the stock purchases. However, both chains have been losing sales to Amazon.com, as well as mass merchandisers like Wal-Mart and Target. The Federal Trade Commission blocked a proposed Staples-Office Depot merger in 1997, but FTC approval of a 2013 Office Depot-Office Max merger without any store closures may bode well for a possible Staples-Office Depot combination.