Staples Plans To Acquire Wholesaler Essendant Inc (NASDAQ:ESND)
Staples announced recently that its fully-owned subsidiary Sycamore Partners is preparing to buy a roughly 9.9% stake at the wholesaler Essendant Inc (NASDAQ:ESND). Sycamore’s latest deal shows that the company is venturing into business-to-business services to counter its failing retail business entity.
The offer comes a few days after Essendant and Genuine Parts Company (NYSE:GPC) announced a merger to form a subsidiary company. Essendant has confirmed receipt of two offers and its weighing options.
In April, Staples submitted its proposal to purchase Essendant with cash but the company declined the offer after the board and legal advisors thwarted its plans to accept the offer. Later on, Staples revised its proposal and presented it to Essendant.
However, Genuine Parts has issued a statement in response to the proposal made by Staples to acquire Essendant in cash at $11.5 per share. The company stated that Staples’ conditional, non-binding proposal is greater in delivering superior value to the Essendant’s shareholders.
Laying off of Employees In Framingham
Staples has been experiencing challenges in its business and has been forced to restructure its internal operations to seal up its weaker areas. In January 2018, the company laid off a fraction of its workers in Framingham, which becomes the second set of layoffs since the firm became the private company.
According to reports, Staples has laid off about 200 employees since the beginning of the year, most of them from the IT, marketing, and accounting departments. The company declined to comment on the reports about the layoffs.
Staples Plans To Close Down Its Store Located In Lacey
Staples recently announced that it is planning to close up its store in Lacey by June 2018. The store has been in operation since 2009. According to the company’s spokeswoman, the majority of its customers are increasingly shifting online hence the need to streamline its internal operations. After analyzing the performance of the store at Lacey, the firm has resolved to close it up.
Staples, just like other big-box retailers have greatly struggled to attract and retain consumers and business customers as many people are shifting to online shopping sites such as Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN), Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (NYSE: BABA), and others that offer huge discounts on products and services.
For customers within the affect region, the company is encouraging them to shop online through its website, Staples.com or at its nearest stores in Stafford and Toms River. Currently, Staples owns 11 stores in both Monmouth and Ocean counties.
More Articles:
https://framinghamsource.com/index.php/2018/05/11/staples-lays-off-employees-in-framingham/
https://www.inddist.com/news/2018/05/pending-sp-richards-deal-essendant-gets-buyout-offer-staples
