Business News

Staples Acquires More Than 99 Percent of Shares in Corporate Express

Friday 18. July 2008 - Staples, Inc. (Nasdaq: SPLS) and its wholly owned subsidiary Staples Acquisition B.V. ("Staples Acquisition") announced today that the following securities have been tendered during the post acceptance period

Staples, Inc. (Nasdaq: SPLS) and its wholly owned subsidiary Staples Acquisition B.V. (“Staples Acquisition”) announced today that the following securities have been tendered during the post acceptance period (na-aanmeldingstermijn) (“Post Acceptance Period”) of the offer to acquire the outstanding securities of Corporate Express N.V. (“Corporate Express”) (“Offer”): (i) 7,437,636 ordinary shares with a nominal value of EUR 1.20 each (“Ordinary Shares”), including the Ordinary Shares represented by American Depositary Shares (“ADSs”), representing approximately 4.0 percent of the total issued and outstanding Ordinary Shares in the capital of Corporate Express (ii) 104,137 preference shares A with a nominal value of EUR 1.20 each (“Preference Shares”), representing approximately 0.2 percent of the total issued and outstanding Preference Shares in the capital of Corporate Express and (iii) EUR 5,000 principal amount of two percent subordinated convertible bonds due 2010 (“Bonds”), representing approximately 0.002 percent of the total issued and outstanding principal amount of the Bonds convertible into Ordinary Shares in the capital of Corporate Express.

The sum of the Ordinary Shares already held by Staples Acquisition and the 7,437,636 Ordinary Shares tendered in the Post Acceptance Period amounts to 184,534,522 shares and represents approximately 99.3 percent of the total issued and outstanding Ordinary Shares in the capital of Corporate Express.

The sum of the Preference Shares already held by Staples Acquisition and the 104,137 Preference Shares tendered in the Post Acceptance Period amounts to 53,248,948 shares and represents approximately 99.9 percent of the total issued and outstanding Preference Shares in the capital of Corporate Express.

The sum of the principal amount of the Bonds already held by Staples Acquisition and the EUR 5,000 principal amount of the Bonds tendered in the Post Acceptance Period amounts to EUR 114,299,000 principal and represents approximately 99.6 percent of the total issued and outstanding principal amount of the Bonds.

Payment

In accordance with the terms of the Offer, payment of the offer price in cash per Ordinary Share, ADS, Preference Share and Bond validly tendered (or defectively tendered, provided that such defect has been waived by Staples Acquisition) and validly delivered to the Dutch Settlement Agent is expected to take place on July 23, 2008.