Staples Sells European Business

FRAMINGHAM, MA — Although a judge blocked its attempted merger with Office Depot earlier this year, Framingham-based Staples Inc. has still found a way to hand off some of its business.

The office supply company said Wednesday it's entered an agreement with a Cerberus Capital Management affiliate to take over the majority of its European operations. That includes Staples' European stores and online business, which will spin off into a separate, privately held company under Cerberus. It will keep the Staples brand name, and Staples will keep a small stake in the operations.

Back home, Staples is honing in on the North American market.

“One of our top strategic priorities has been to narrow our geographic focus on North America, and this is an important step toward simplifying our operations and better positioning Staples for sustainable long-term growth,” Staples CEO and President Shira Goodman said in a press release. “We believe that working with Cerberus will help enable the future success of the Staples Europe business, benefiting our associates and customers in the region.”

Photo by Mike Mozart, Flickr/Creative Commons