While a deal may be good news for consumers, who will likely reap savings, the suppliers to both companies likely view the deal as less of a victory. Office Deal Great for Consumers, Less So for Suppliers On the conference call regarding Staples’s $6.3 billion deal to buy Office Depot, executives at the companies said a combination would allow the new company to compete head-to-head on price with Amazon, Wal-Mart and other low-cost purveyors. A spokeswoman said the company wouldn’t be concerned about a combination of the two largest office-supply chains, because there are plenty of places to buy pens and paper. also has a corporate account with Staples, from which it buys janitorial and office supplies, as well as furniture. “Not that we have a big variety of Post-it Note colors here,” Mr. Dannon likes because of the variety and breadth of products they sell. “We already have a lot of other options when we buy at this scale,” spokesman The yogurt maker cites one main reason: e-commerce. based subsidiary of the global food giant Danone SA, buys its office supplies from and isn’t worried it will lose options with the merger. So far, customers aren’t expressing much concern. 9, according to Internet Retailer, a trade publication. 3 behind and Apple Inc., and Office Depot at No. Neither companies’ North American same-store sales have grown in years.īoth are already among the 10 biggest online retailers, with Staples coming in No. They also are holding up better than their retail businesses. 1 and $4.6 billion in sales over the nine months through Sept. Those operations account for about 37% of revenue at each company, bringing in $6.2 billion in sales for Staples in the nine months that ended Nov. Office Depot and Staples compete fiercely to sell paper, pens, coffee, light bulbs and janitorial supplies to medium-sized and large businesses-clients that buy supplies direct from the chains without ever setting foot in a store. Office Depot shares closed up 2.2% at $9.49, well below the deal’s value of $10.91 a share at Staples’ closing price Wednesday. Investors appeared to be betting the deal will get real scrutiny from regulators. One way or another, we’ll be out there trying.” But “every time there’s been a merger, each one has over time brought opportunity for us. “Now we’re just going to have this one monstrous competitor,” he said. Mason does about $1.5 billion in business a year, about a third of which comes from large buyers, including government clients, Mr. Mason Co., a regional office-supplies seller, said it was too soon to tell whether the merger would hurt his business. They’re knocking on the door.”Ĭhief executive of closely held W.B. “Amazon just launched a business-to-business office products initiative. “There are really strong regional players, who bid on contracts all the time, and have been very, very successful,” Mr. Said on a conference call Wednesday that the company faces a number of competitors in its contract business. “It’s about where a company can buy 10,000 staplers.” “This investigation isn’t going to be about where you and I can buy a stapler,” saidĪ former FTC litigator who now practices at law firm Hunton & Williams LLP. But in that deal, part of the FTC’s reasoning is that “the parties will continue to face strong competition for such customers from Staples,” raising questions about the current review. It wasn’t a sticking point when Office Depot bought OfficeMax, either. It wasn’t an issue when the FTC rejected Staples’ first attempt to buy Office Depot in 1997. The market for business customers has received less scrutiny.
0 kommentar(er)
