The ODP Corporation Delays Public Company Separation to Evaluate Potential Sale of Its Consumer Business
The ODP Corporation announced that its Board of Directors determined to delay the previously announced public company separation to evaluate a potential sale of the Company’s consumer business. In May 2021, the Company announced that its Board of Directors unanimously approved a plan to separate ODP into two independent, publicly-traded companies by means of a tax-free spin-off to ODP shareholders. In November 2021, USR Parent, Inc., the parent company of Staples and a portfolio company of Sycamore Partners, reaffirmed its non-binding proposal to acquire the Company’s consumer business, including the Office Depot and OfficeMax retail stores business, the Company's direct channel business (officedepot.com), and the Office Depot and OfficeMax intellectual property, including all brand names, for $1 billion in cash. The Company remains in conversation with Sycamore as it further evaluates the potential value and regulatory risk of Sycamore’s proposed transaction. In December 2021, ODP’s Board of Directors received a non-binding proposal from another third party to acquire the Company’s consumer business. The terms of that proposal are confidential.