Staples raises Corp. Express bid

U.S. office supplies retailer Staples Inc raised its bid for Dutch peer Corporate Express to 8 euros a share, calling the offer the best option available to the latter's shareholders. Corporate Express repeatedly turned down Staples' original bid of 7.25 euros a share — a deal valued at about 2.5 billion euros ($3.83 billion) — as too low.

Staples said its latest offer was a premium of about 51 percent to the Corporate Express closing share price on February 18. Staples' attempt to hold talks with Corporate Express, as recently as last Friday, failed after the Corporate Express board refused to negotiate the merits of its offer, the company said.

Analysts had anticipated that Staples would have to pay more than its original bid for Corporate Express, and their consensus was that a tie-up between the two would make strategic sense and could lead to big savings at a time both companies seek to combat a downturn in the U.S. economy.

The U.S. office supplies retailer said it has made significant progress in preparing for the offer — it has obtained U.S. antitrust clearance, met with Dutch trade unions and submitted a request for approval with the Dutch market regulator AFM. Staples said it expects to launch a formal offer after it receives approval from the AFM.