Woodbridge Withdraws Office Depot Nominees

Del Ray Beach, Fla. A group of shareholders that has been in a proxy fight with Office Depot announced it will not nominate candidates to the Office Depot board of directors, the group announced Friday.

The Woodbridge Group, which is comprised of Woodbridge Equity Fund LLLP and homebuilder Levitt Corp., has loudly criticized Office Depot’s performance. It had planned to nominate the directors at the company's annual meeting next Wednesday.

Woodbridge had nominated Office Depot's former president and COO Mark Begelman and Martin E. Hanaka, the former president and COO of rival Staples Inc.

Alan B. Levan, the general partner of Woodbridge Equity Fund, said the group nominated the directors as a wake-up call to Office Depot's board and management team, calling the overall performance of the retailer "unacceptable."

In 2007, the company's profit dropped 21%.

Woodbridge now says it is now urging shareholders to withhold their votes from Office Depot's own directors to send a message to the company.