(Reuters) – Office supplies retailer Staples said on Wednesday its chief executive officer, Alexander Douglas, would step down from his role and be replaced by executive chairman John Lederer on an interim basis.
The move comes two weeks after Staples offered to buy Office Depot owner ODP Corp’s consumer business for $1 billion, in its latest effort to acquire its rival’s assets.
Staples, which is owned by buyout firm Sycamore Partners, said it has begun a search for a permanent chief executive officer.
Douglas, previously an executive at Coca Cola, joined the company as CEO in 2018 and will hand over to Lederer, who has been a senior adviser at Sycamore since 2017, later this week.
Staples declined to comment further on the reason for Douglas’ departure.
(Reporting by Mehr Bedi in Bengaluru; Editing by Vinay Dwivedi)
