OfficeMax Inc. and Office Depot Inc. said Tuesday that they have
appointed three board members from each company to a committee that will
determine who will lead the combined company when their merger is finalized
later this year.
Board members of the Naperville-based OfficeMax named to the selection committee
include Rakesh Gagwal, non-executive chairman of the board, director Francesca
Ruiz de Luzuriaga and Jim Marino, former president and CEO of Alberto Culver
Company, who will co-chair the committee with Office Depot board member Nigel
Travis, CEO of Dunkin Donuts. Travis will be joined by fellow Office Depot Board
members Tom Colligan and Marty Evans.
Ravi Saligram, CEO of OfficeMax Inc. and Neil Austrian, CEO of Boca Raton,
Fl.-based Office Depot Inc. will be considered for the top spot along with
external candidates, the companies said in a statement. They weren't specific
about when the decision would be made, only that it will be done before the
merger deal closes.
OfficeMax and Office Depot also announced key executives from both firms who
will lead the integration process as the company's merge. Those executives
include Bruce Besanko, chief financial officer and chief administrative officer
and Office Depot's CFO, Mike Newman, who will co-chair the effort.
In February, the companies said they planned to merge in an all-stock deal which
calls for Office Depot to issue 2.69 new shares of common stock for each
outstanding common share of OfficeMax. At the time of the announcement, major
details such as the combined companies' name, headquarters and who will lead it,
had not been determined.
The companies said in a joint statement Tuesday they received a request for
additional information from the Federal Trade Commission regarding their
proposed merger.
The request, which the U.S. office supply retailers said they had expected,
extends the waiting period under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements
Act of 1976, and prevents them from closing the deal until 30 days after they
have "substantially complied" with the request, or the waiting period is
terminated by the FTC.
The companies said they were optimistic about the regulatory process.
Reuters contributed to this report.
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