Financial Veteran Brings Strong Operating
Skills and Integration Experience
Co-CFO Mike Newman Retires from
Organization
Interim Co-CFO Deb O’Connor Returns to Position
as
Senior Vice President, Finance and Co-Chief
Accounting Officer
Office Depot, Inc. (NYSE:ODP), a leading global provider
of office products, services, and solutions formed by the
merger of Office Depot and OfficeMax, today announced the
appointment of Stephen Hare as Executive Vice President and Chief
Financial Officer, effective immediately. Hare reports to Roland
Smith, Chairman and CEO of Office Depot, Inc., and replaces Co-CFO
Mike Newman, who has retired from the Company, and interim Co-CFO
Deb O’Connor, who has returned to her position as Senior Vice
President, Finance and Co-Chief Accounting Officer.
Hare comes to Office Depot, Inc. from The Wendy’s Company where
he served as Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer from
2011 until September 2013. Hare was Senior Vice President and Chief
Financial Officer of Wendy’s/Arby’s Group, Inc. from 2008 through
2011. Previously, he served as Chief Financial Officer of Arby’s
Restaurant Group, Inc.
“Having worked closely with Steve on transforming businesses in
the past, I know he brings to Office Depot, Inc. the knowledge and
discipline needed to realize the synergies inherent in the merger
of Office Depot and OfficeMax,” Smith said. “I am confident that
Steve’s financial skills and wealth of operations and management
experience will enable us to be a more competitive and efficient
provider of office products and services, and set us on a path for
sustainable growth.
“I also would like to thank Mike for his many contributions to
Office Depot over the past five years,” Smith added. “In that time,
he has delivered strong financial and operational management and
successfully guided the Company during a period of significant
economic challenges. Further, his leadership has been instrumental
in the merger and integration of Office Depot and OfficeMax. The
Board and I wish him the best in the future.
“Additionally, I would like to thank Deb for stepping up these
last four months and assuming the role of interim CFO,” Smith said.
“She has done an outstanding job of leading the OfficeMax financial
organization and supporting the integration.”
Smith plans to have the Office Depot, Inc. Executive Committee
in place by the end of this month.
Additional Background on Stephen Hare
Prior to his senior management positions with The Wendy’s
Company, Wendy’s/Arby’s Group, Inc., and Arby’s Restaurant Group,
Inc., Hare was Executive Vice President of Cadmus Communications
Corp. and the President of Publisher Services Group, a division of
Cadmus, from 2003 to 2006. He served as Executive Vice President
and Chief Financial Officer of Cadmus from 2001 to 2003.
From 1996 to 2001, Hare was Executive Vice President and
Chief Financial Officer of AMF Bowling Worldwide, where he also was
a member of the Board of Directors. From 1990 to 1996, he was
Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of James River
Corp.
Hare, 60 years old, serves on the Board of Directors of Hanger,
Inc. (NYSE: HGR). He graduated with a BBA from the University of
Notre Dame and with an MBA from the Harvard Business School.
About Office Depot, Inc.
Formed by the merger of Office Depot and OfficeMax, Office
Depot, Inc. is a leading global provider of products, services, and
solutions for every workplace – whether your workplace is an
office, home, school, or car.
Office Depot, Inc. is a resource and a catalyst to help
customers work better. We are a single source for everything
customers need to be more productive, including the latest
technology, core office supplies, print and document services,
business services, facilities products, furniture, and school
essentials.
The company has combined annual sales of approximately $17
billion, employs about 66,000 associates, and serves consumers and
businesses in 59 countries with more than 2,200 retail stores,
award-winning e-commerce sites and a dedicated business-to-business
sales organization – all delivered through a global network of
wholly owned operations, joint ventures, franchisees, licensees and
alliance partners. The company’s portfolio of leading brands
includes Office Depot, OfficeMax, OfficeMax Grand & Toy,
Viking, Ativa, TUL, Foray, and DiVOGA.
Office Depot, Inc.’s common stock is listed on the New York
Stock Exchange under the symbol ODP. Additional press information
can be found at: http://news.officedepot.com.
Additional information about the recently completed merger of
Office Depot and OfficeMax can be found
at http://officedepotmaxmerger.com.
All trademarks, service marks and trade names of Office Depot,
Inc. and OfficeMax Incorporated used herein are trademarks or
registered trademarks of Office Depot, Inc. and OfficeMax
Incorporated, respectively. Any other product or company names
mentioned herein are the trademarks of their respective owners.
FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
This communication may contain forward-looking statements within
the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of
1995. These statements or disclosures may discuss goals, intentions
and expectations as to future trends, plans, events, results of
operations or financial condition, or state other information
relating to, among other things, the Company, the merger and other
transactions contemplated by the merger agreement, based on current
beliefs and assumptions made by, and information currently
available to, management. Forward-looking statements generally will
be accompanied by words such as “anticipate,” “believe,” “plan,”
“could,” “estimate,” “expect,” “forecast,” “guidance,” “intend,”
“may,” “possible,” “potential,” “predict,” “project,” “propose” or
other similar words, phrases or expressions, or other variations of
such words. These forward-looking statements are subject to various
risks and uncertainties, many of which are outside of the Company’s
control. There can be no assurances that the Company will realize
these expectations or that these beliefs will prove correct, and
therefore investors and shareholders should not place undue
reliance on such statements.
Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially
from those in the forward-looking statements include adverse
regulatory decisions; the risks that the combined company will not
realize the estimated accretive effects of the merger or the
estimated cost savings and synergies; the businesses of Office
Depot and OfficeMax may not be integrated successfully or such
integration may take longer, be more difficult, time-consuming or
costly to accomplish than expected; the business disruption
following the merger, including adverse effects on employee
retention; the combined company’s ability to maintain its long-term
credit rating; unanticipated changes in the markets for the
combined company’s business segments; unanticipated downturns in
business relationships with customers; competitive pressures on the
combined company’s sales and pricing; increases in the cost of
material, energy and other production costs, or unexpected costs
that cannot be recouped in product pricing; the introduction of
competing technologies; unexpected technical or marketing
difficulties; unexpected claims, charges, litigation or dispute
resolutions; new laws and governmental regulations. The foregoing
list of factors is not exhaustive. Investors and shareholders
should carefully consider the foregoing factors and the other risks
and uncertainties described in Office Depot’s and OfficeMax’s
Annual Reports on Form 10-K and Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q
filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The combined
company does not assume any obligation to update or revise any
forward-looking statements.
Brian Levine, 561-438-2895Media
RelationsBrian.Levine@officedepot.comorRich Leland,
561-438-3796Investor RelationsRichard.Leland@officedepot.comorKaren
Denning, 630-864-6050Media
Relationskarendenning@officemax.comorMike Steele,
630-864-6826Investor Relationsmichaelsteele@officemax.com
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