Office Depot to spin off distribution business into separate company

Office Depot today disclosed plans to spin off its commercial distribution business into a separate company, via a tax-tree transaction.

Why it matters: This may help clear the path for an acquisition of Office Depot by Staples, whose 1996 and 2015 takeover efforts were thwarted by antitrust regulators.

• Staples, now owned by Sycamore Partners, made a third offer earlier this year that ODP rejected, but with the caveat that the board was open to future discussions.

Bottom line: "ODP said it would retain its retail consumer and small-business products and services, while separating its Business Solutions Division contract unit and independent regional office-supply distribution operations," Bloomberg writes.