Office Depot, OfficeMax Make it Official

Office Depot (Boca Raton, Fla.) and OfficeMax (Naperville, Ill.), two of the office supply retailing’s Big Three, have signed a “definitive merger,” confirming rumors that had been circulating for a couple of days.

According to the announcement, approved by both companies’ boards of directors, the “all stock merger of equals” is intended to “create a stronger, more efficient global provider better able to compete in the rapidly changing office solutions industry.”

Under the terms of the agreement, OfficeMax stockholders will receive 2.69 Office Depot common shares for each share of OfficeMax common stock.

According to OfficeMax president and ceo Ravi Saligram, in a letter to the company’s loyalty rewards program members, the two retailers will remain separate entities until the merger deal closes, at the end of the year.

When they do merge, the combined company, as yet to be named, will be worth approximately $18 billion, based on their revenue reports as of Dec. 29, 2012.