what happened to staples stock

This article explains what happened to Staples stock: Staples (former Nasdaq ticker SPLS) was taken private in a 2017 Sycamore Partners buyout after years of industry pressure, strategic shifts, an...

2025-11-13 16:00:00

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What happened to Staples stock

Quick answer: what happened to staples stock is that Staples Inc. (former Nasdaq ticker SPLS) was acquired by private-equity firm Sycamore Partners in 2017 and taken private; the SPLS ticker no longer trades on public exchanges. The change followed years of declining retail performance, strategic challenges and a failed merger effort, culminating in the 2017 buyout and later corporate reorganizations.

This article will walk through Staples’ company background, its history as a public company, the peak and decline of its market value, key strategic moves and operational challenges, the attempted merger with Office Depot, the 2017 Sycamore Partners buyout, post-acquisition developments including refinancing reports, current status for investors, and the main lessons from Staples’ transition from public listing to private ownership.

Company overview

what happened to staples stock is rooted in Staples Inc.’s evolution as a leading office-supply retailer and B2B services provider. Founded in 1986, Staples grew rapidly by opening retail superstores and building a business-facing services arm that sold office supplies, furniture, technology products, and business services to small and mid-sized customers.

Before the 2017 buyout, Staples operated thousands of retail locations across the U.S. and an extensive B2B channel serving business customers and institutional clients. At its public-company scale, Staples reported annual revenues in the tens of billions of dollars at its peak, running a mix of retail and contract-based B2B sales. Over time the balance of sales shifted, with some growth in business solutions but material headwinds in core retail categories.

Public listing and early stock history

Staples went public and for many years the company’s stock (ticker SPLS) was actively traded on U.S. exchanges. During the 1990s and 2000s Staples expanded its store footprint and online presence, and SPLS was a familiar name in retail-focused investor portfolios. Early stock history includes organic growth from new stores, expansion of product assortments, and steady recognition as a leading office-supply chain.

Investors watching what happened to staples stock saw strong growth periods as Staples rode the general expansion of big-box retail and the rise of corporate purchasing programs. The company’s public filings during those decades documented multi-billion-dollar revenue runs and substantial national market penetration.

Peak valuation and later decline

what happened to staples stock over the 2000s and 2010s reflects a pattern seen across many brick-and-mortar retail chains: an extended period of strong scale and profitability gave way to secular decline as e-commerce adoption and changing office consumption patterns eroded core demand.

Staples’ highest market values generally corresponded to periods when corporate buying and in-store traffic remained robust. Over time, several structural forces compressed margins and sales — greater e-commerce competition including direct-to-business suppliers, declining demand for paper and printers as offices digitalized, and price pressures from online channels. These secular changes led to multi-year revenue softness and share-price weakness in the years preceding the privatization.

Strategic moves and operational challenges

Executives at Staples responded with a string of strategic initiatives. The company pursued expansion of product categories, made several acquisitions to bolster B2B capabilities, and invested in omnichannel infrastructure to support online ordering and business customers. A major strategic move was the purchase of Corporate Express (a European business-to-business office-supply distributor) in the late 2000s, a deal that materially expanded Staples’ B2B scale but also increased leverage and integration complexity.

These initiatives were not without cost. Integration of acquisitions, supply-chain changes, pricing competition, and the need to close underperforming stores created persistent pressure on free cash flow. Staples undertook multiple rounds of cost reductions and store rationalizations, and those operational actions helped reduce near-term losses but did not fully reverse declining sales trends.

Attempted merger with Office Depot

One of the most consequential episodes in understanding what happened to staples stock was the attempted merger with Office Depot. In 2015 Staples announced an agreement to buy Office Depot in a bid to consolidate the office-supply retail sector, arguing the combination was needed to compete with online rivals.

U.S. antitrust authorities challenged the transaction. In 2016 the U.S. Department of Justice sued to block the merger on competition grounds, and a federal judge ruled that the proposed merger would substantially lessen competition for certain large-business buyers and denied the merger. That regulatory rejection eliminated a path to scale-driven cost savings and left Staples to face competitive pressures on its own. The failed consolidation materially narrowed strategic options available to the public company.

2017 buyout — Sycamore Partners acquisition

what happened to staples stock culminated in 2017 when private-equity firm Sycamore Partners agreed to acquire Staples in a take‑private transaction valued at approximately $6.9 billion (including debt), with a cash per‑share price in the low double digits per share for common stockholders. Shareholders voted to approve the transaction and Staples’ common stock was delisted from Nasdaq after the deal closed later that year. After closing, Staples ceased to trade publicly as SPLS.

Transaction terms and immediate market reaction

The announced per‑share price represented a premium to the pre-announcement trading levels, and the stock typically moved to align with the offer price during the transaction period. Shareholder votes and customary closing steps completed the process, and once the acquisition closed the public ticker was removed from Nasdaq quotations. The privatization marked the end of Staples as a publicly traded equity opportunity under the SPLS ticker.

Post-acquisition corporate structure and business focus

After the Sycamore Partners acquisition, Staples’ corporate structure and strategic priorities changed under private ownership. The company and new owners explored options to improve the profitability of both retail and B2B operations, and in subsequent years parts of the business were reorganized or carved out to sharpen operational focus. Private-equity ownership typically emphasizes margin improvement, cost control, and preparing assets for eventual sale or further strategic moves.

Management continuity varied by business unit; some senior leaders remained to run day-to-day operations while private-equity oversight introduced new reporting priorities and potential restructuring initiatives. The retail footprint and the business solutions arm continued to operate but with an ownership and governance model that no longer required public quarterly reporting to market investors.

Financial developments after privatization

what happened to staples stock does not end with the closing of the deal; the company’s balance sheet and debt profile under leveraged private-equity ownership have been important for stakeholders. Private buyouts often load target companies with additional debt as part of financing the purchase, and Staples carried notable leverage after the 2017 transaction.

As of mid-2024, there were public reports that banks and lenders were sounding out potential investors and refinancing options for Staples’ debt, with multi‑billion-dollar maturities approaching in the medium term. As of May 2024, according to Bloomberg reporting, banks had approached investors to assess appetite for refinancing options related to Staples’ debt load. Those discussions are typical in the lifecycle of leveraged buyouts but are relevant context for suppliers, employees, creditors, and any future potential public-market plans.

Current status of the stock and how investors can gain exposure

To be explicit about the central question: what happened to staples stock means that SPLS is no longer publicly traded — retail investors cannot buy Staples shares on stock exchanges today under the SPLS ticker. The public listing was terminated when the company was taken private in 2017.

Investors seeking exposure to the office-supply and business-solutions sector can consider a few alternatives: publicly traded competitors and peers (where available), business-services companies, or retailers that carry overlapping categories. Examples of comparable companies that have been used as proxies by market participants include other office-products retailers and broader consumer-technology or home-office suppliers.

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Causes and lessons

what happened to staples stock can be attributed to a combination of industry disruption, strategic choices, and capital-market dynamics:

Industry disruption: E-commerce adoption and changing office consumption reduced demand for traditional office-supply categories (paper, ink, printers), compressing retail sales and margins.
Failed consolidation: The proposed merger with Office Depot was blocked by regulators in 2016, removing a path for cost synergies and scale that might have changed Staples’ competitive trajectory.
Strategic trade-offs: Large acquisitions and attempts to broaden product assortments increased complexity and leverage, while store closures and restructuring imposed costs and transitional headwinds.
Private-equity dynamics: The 2017 buyout reflected both the company’s depressed public valuation and private-equity appetite for restructuring; once private, Staples faced a different set of performance and refinancing pressures.

Broader lessons for incumbents include the need to adapt early to digital competition, the limits of scale as a defensive strategy without clear regulatory or market approval, and the importance of balance-sheet flexibility when investing to transform business models.

Timeline

A compact timeline of major events related to what happened to staples stock (selected highlights):

1986 — Staples founded and began rapid retail expansion.
1990s–2000s — Public listing and growth; SPLS active on U.S. exchanges as Staples expands store footprint and B2B offerings.
Late 2000s — Acquisition of Corporate Express and expansion of B2B capabilities (large acquisition increased scale and debt).
2015 — Staples announces an agreement to acquire Office Depot to consolidate the office-supply sector.
2016 — U.S. regulators sue to block the Staples-Office Depot deal and a federal judge denies the merger; the failed merger affects strategic options.
2017 — Sycamore Partners agrees to acquire Staples (deal valued at approximately $6.9 billion); shareholders approve and Staples is taken private; SPLS is delisted from Nasdaq after closing.
Post-2017 — Under private ownership, Staples undergoes operational changes and restructuring; parts of the business are reorganized over time.
May 2024 — As of May 2024, Bloomberg reported banks were approaching investors about refinancing Staples’ near‑term debt maturities, illustrating ongoing balance-sheet activity after the buyout.

References and sources

Primary sources and reporting used to compile this article include company press releases, contemporary financial press coverage of the 2017 buyout and delisting, legal reporting on the Office Depot merger attempt, and later reporting on refinancing activity. Representative sources (by outlet and date) include:

Sycamore Partners and Staples press releases (2017) — announcement and closing details.
Major financial press coverage of the acquisition and delisting (2017), including contemporaneous reporting by national financial newspapers and business sites.
Reporting on the regulatory challenge to the Office Depot merger (2016) — U.S. Department of Justice filings and court reporting.
As of May 2024, according to Bloomberg, banks were sounding out investors about refinancing Staples’ debt.
Company filings and investor relations disclosures from Staples when it was public (historical 10-K and 10-Q filings) and other archival sources such as company history summaries and Wikipedia entries for corporate background.

Note: dates and specifics above are based on widely reported timelines and public filings. For primary verification consult the named outlets’ reporting archives and Staples’ own corporate filings and press releases.