Office Depot rejected another takeover attempt by rival office supplies Staples, according to a letter sent on Tuesday by a company executive.
However, Office Depot’s parent company, ODP, said it is open to a different type of agreement, such as selling its retail and e-commerce business to Staples or agreeing to a joint venture, according to the report.
In the letter, ODP President Joseph Vassalluzzo wrote that an agreement other than a full acquisition “could be executed more efficiently and with much more certainty and less regulatory risk than his proposal”.
“It would also help to maintain competitiveness in relation to non-traditional retailers and optimize continuous choices for consumers,” he wrote. He wrote the letter to Stefan Kaluzny, the managing director of Sycamore Partners and a board member of USR Parent, Staples’ subsidiary.
The rejected offer was first reported by The Wall Street Journal.
ODP shares fell nearly 2% in pre-market trading on Tuesday, to $ 45.
Staples tried to buy Office Depot’s parent company, ODP, twice more. Five years ago, antitrust officials blocked a merger between the two companies and filed for bankruptcy between the two companies.
In the last attempt, Staples proposed to buy the company on January 11 for more than $ 2 billion, or $ 40 a share, according to the Journal.
Along with Office Depot, ODC also owns OfficeMax, another chain of office supply stores, and CompuCom, an information technology company.
Read the letter here.