A merger between Office Depot and OfficeMax has been years in the making. But it appears the deal may have been announced too hastily.
A press release announcing the merger of the two office supply retailers briefly surfaced Wednesday on Office Depot’s Web site. Since then, the announcement has disappeared.
The deal negotiations are ongoing, according to two people with knowledge of the matter. As of Wednesday morning, the company’s bankers and lawyers were still attempting to finalize an agreement.
Several news organizations quickly reported the terms disclosed in the apparently errant press release, including Office Depot’s issuing $2.69 new shares of common stock for each share of fficeMax. That would value OfficeMax at $13.50, or roughly $1.19 billion, a more than 25 percent premium to the company’s closing price last week.
The two people said that the press release that was published and then taken down was a draft. The described terms were not final, they added.
Representatives for Office Depot and OfficeMax were not immediately available for comment.
