The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has approved the acquisition, following assent from New Zealand and China.
Staples is working with US Federal authorities and regulators in Europe and Canada to complete the transaction by the end of 2015, Zacks reported. Rumours were confirmed in February 2015 that the acquisition was going ahead, for $6.3 billion (€5.4 billion).
The transaction was sanctioned by a “thumping majority” of Office Depot shareholders at its Annual Meeting of Shareholders in 19 June. The combined companies will create a retail chain with an estimated $39 billion (€34 billion) in revenue. Zacks Equity Research commented: “We believe that the deal between Staples and Office Depot will stave off competition, help in attaining cost synergies and provide consumers with a better omni-channel platform.
“The transaction is expected to generate annualized cost synergies of $1 billion (€0.8 billion) by fiscal third year, after the deal is closed. The company expects to incur nearly $1 billion in one-time expenses to realize the above-mentioned synergies.”
Staples also recently signed a deal with worldwide delivery group UPS to allow US customers to charge shipment costs directly to their UPS account, OPI reported. The new feature means customers will no longer have to prepare labels ahead of time, while customised rates will be on their standard UPS invoice.
UPS said the service will be of particular benefit to customers who spend a lot of time on the road, such as sales professional, while small business owners will have the “convenience” of purchasing office supplies when shipping packages at over 1,300 Staples locations in the USA.
Damien Leigh, Senior Vice President of Business Services at Staples, said that the new billing options, as well as the expanded packaging line and shipping products, will make one-stop shipping easier for SME clients.