Staples gets tenders for most of Corporate Express' 2% convertibles

By Jennifer Chiou

New York, June 27 - Staples, Inc. said that it received tenders from holders of €146.51 million of Corporate Express NV's 2% subordinated convertible bonds due 2010.

With the €6.73 million of bonds that Staples already owns, the company said that the tendered convertibles represent 99.1% of the total issued amount of securities.

On June 17, the European Commission granted clearance in the proposed merger of the companies, the final regulatory clearance requirement for the offer.

On June 11, Corporate Express announced it approved Staples' latest offer to acquire the company for €9.25 per ordinary share, or €3.1 billion.

The acceptance period for tendering ordinary shares - including ordinary shares represented by American Depositary Shares, depositary receipts of preference shares A and the 2% convertibles - ended at 11:30 a.m. ET June 27.

It was previously reported that Staples Acquisition began the tender offer on May 19. Both companies said they expected to close the merger in July.

Corporate Express terminated its merger agreement with Marly, France-based office supply company Lyreco SAS, valued at €1.7 billion, as part of its deal with Staples, a prior news release noted.

Staples is an office superstore based in Framingham, Mass.

Corporate Express is a business-to-business office supply company based in Amsterdam.

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