Office Depot Takes a Risky New Direction

Office Depot Takes a Risky New Direction

Office Depot (NASDAQ: ODP) just unveiled a bold new direction for its business. But after combining that direction with freshly reduced financial guidance, it's clear that investors aren't so sure about the move.

More specifically on Wednesday, Office Depot announced it has agreed to acquire IT services specialist CompuCom Systems from private equity firm Thomas H. Lee Partners (THL) for roughly $1 billion -- a massive deal considering Office Depot's entire market capitalization sits just below $2 billion as of this writing. According to Office Depot's press release, this marks the first step in strategically "pivoting the company from from a traditional office products retailer to a broader business services and technology products platform."

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Source: Fool.com