Here's Why Office Depot, Inc. Shares Dropped 32% in October
Office Depot (NASDAQ: ODP) has a plan to transform its business beyond its traditional retail market. The problem is that the company made its first major move toward remaking itself and investors seem to hate it.
The retailer released plans to pivot the company "from a traditional office products retailer to a broader business services and technology products platform." To make that happen Office Depot spent approximately $1 billion to buy CompuCom Systems, Inc., a provider of IT services, products and solutions for enterprise, small, and midsize businesses.
"Technology is the office supply of the future," said Office Depot CEO Gerry Smith in a press release. "...The combination of CompuCom's enterprise IT services with our millions of customers and approximately 1,400 distribution points gives us the credibility and scale to build a sustainable platform and stand apart from the competition. The company will create value for shareholders from a diversified revenue base with a clear opportunity to grow higher value services and business-to-business revenues."
Source: Fool.com