Starboard Value Acquires 6% Stake In Staples, Boosts Stake In Office Depot

The activist investor fund Starboard Value has accumulated a roughly 6 percent ownership stake in Staples, Inc. (NASDAQ: SPLS) and boosted its stake in Office Depot Inc (NYSE: ODP) to around 10 percent from a previous 8.6 percent stake, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Starboard Value could push for a combination of the two office-supply retailers that have seen their sales and market share fall at the expense of Wal-Mart, Target and even Amazon.com.

WSJ did note, however, that "any combination could draw scrutiny from antitrust regulators because Office Depot and Staples are the last remaining major retailers specializing in office supplies."

Shares of Staples were trading higher by around 11 percent in Thursday's pre-market session, while shares of Office Depot were higher by more than 8 percent.