Officemax Inc

OfficeMax Inc. said it has entered into a joint-venture agreement with a business development company in Brazil to operate office products superstores in that country. OfficeMax said it initially will own a minority interest in the venture with Brazil's MGDK & Associadoes and may increase its ownership to a majority position.

Shares of OfficeMax Inc. plunged the most in almost 21 years Friday after the office supplies retailer said debt that was partially guaranteed by Lehman Bros. Holdings Inc. was in default. OfficeMax shares fell $2.12, or 16%, to $11.11, the biggest one-day decline since October 1987. OfficeMax issued $1.47 billion in notes in 2004 in a transaction designed to defer taxes on the sale of timberlands, Christopher Horvers, an analyst at JPMorgan Securities Inc. in New York, said in a research note.

OfficeMax Inc., the third-largest U.S. office supplies chain, said that it will close 40 stores and that it expects a loss in its fiscal fourth quarter. Operating results in the quarter ending Jan. 26 are substantially better than the third quarter, Chief Executive Michael Feuer said. The Shaker Heights, Ohio-based company's fourth-quarter same-store sales as of Monday fell 2.4%, less than a 7.9% decline in the third quarter, he said. OfficeMax shares rose 63 cents to $4.15 on the NYSE.

In an annual ritual that companies have come to dread, the California Public Employees Retirement System on Wednesday named six firms that it says must improve financially and adopt more enlightened rules for corporate governance. The companies on the 2006 edition of CalPERS' "Focus List" are Brocade Communications Systems Inc., Cardinal Health Inc., Clear Channel Communications Inc., Mellon Financial Corp., OfficeMax Inc. and Sovereign Bancorp.

A group of OfficeMax Inc. investors urged management to consider breaking up or selling the office supplies retailer and hired Blackstone Group to explore alternatives for the company. K Capital Partners, which owns almost 6 million shares of OfficeMax, said the stock price was undervalued, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Shares of OfficeMax rose 20 cents to $34.16 on the New York Stock Exchange. From Bloomberg News * Staples Inc.

OfficeMax Inc., the No. 3 U.S. office-supplies retailer, said it would restate income for the first three quarters of last year after completing a probe that found employees fabricated $3.3 million in rebates billed to suppliers. The audit committee investigation discovered the company overstated operating income by as much as $5 million during the first nine months of 2004, Itasca, Ill.-based OfficeMax said.

Office supply retailer OfficeMax Inc. had its second quarterly profit this year after eight quarters of losses as it attracted more customers and increased sales. OfficeMax had net income of $16.5 million, or 13 cents a share, contrasted with a net loss of $25.8 million, or 23 cents, a year earlier. Sales rose 5.8% to $1.26 billion, the company said. Sales at stores open at least a year rose 7.7%, the most in five years. Shares of Shaker Heights, Ohio-based OfficeMax rose 31 cents to $5.

Kmart Unit Buying BizMart Inc.: Kmart Corp. said its OfficeMax Inc. division is buying the Dallas-based chain of office "superstores" in a deal that propels the retailer toward the top of the office-supply business. Acquisition of the 104-store BizMart chain will make 4-year-old Cleveland-based OfficeMax the No. 2 player behind Office Depot Inc. in the office superstore market with 284 outlets, up from 79 less than a year ago. Office Depot, based in Delray Beach, Fla.

Carlos Slim Helu, Latin America's wealthiest businessman, plans to boost his family's stake in U.S. retailers Saks Inc. and OfficeMax Inc., viewing both companies as undervalued. Slim, who paid $120 million last month for a 7% stake in Saks, owner of the New York landmark Saks Fifth Avenue store, wouldn't say how much of the companies he wants to buy. He said he's not thinking of acquiring control of either company. Slim owns at least 8% of Cleveland-based OfficeMax.

OfficeMax Inc. on Friday said it plans to invest about $100 million over five years with a Mexican partner to open 50 stores in Mexico as the country's retail sector begins to recover. "We are beating sales projections by about 30%," Elmer Franco, executive vice president of OfficeMax Mexico, said during a store inauguration in Monterrey, Mexico's second-largest city. OfficeMax now operates five office-supplies stores in Mexico City and two in Monterrey.

OfficeMax Inc., struggling to keep up with its competition in the crowded office supplies business, said Tuesday that it would close 110 retail superstores across the U.S. and make other restructuring moves in the first quarter. The company also said it would close its wood-polymer building materials plant in Elma, Wash., and five retail stores in Canada as part of a shake-up that would result in $187 million in pretax charges. The moves represent the latest attempt by the Itasca, Ill.

OfficeMax Inc., the No. 3 office supplies retailer, said Tuesday that the Securities and Exchange Commission issued a formal order of investigation after the company revealed it had fabricated $3.3 million in rebates billed to suppliers. The SEC inquiry follows the company's own investigation into its accounting for supplier income, Itasca, Ill.-based OfficeMax said in a statement.

Office Depot Inc., the nation's second-largest office supply retailer, hired an auto parts executive as its chairman and chief executive, hoping to keep the momentum gained since his predecessor's departure. Steve Odland, who had been the CEO and chairman of AutoZone Inc. since January 2001, replaces Bruce Nelson, who was pressured to resign in October. Office Depot shares rose $1.56 to $20.75, while AutoZone shares fell $12.55 to $85.75. Both are traded on the New York Stock Exchange.

A group of OfficeMax Inc. investors urged management to consider breaking up or selling the office supplies retailer and hired Blackstone Group to explore alternatives for the company. K Capital Partners, which owns almost 6 million shares of OfficeMax, said the stock price was undervalued, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Shares of OfficeMax rose 20 cents to $34.16 on the New York Stock Exchange. From Bloomberg News * Staples Inc.

OfficeMax Inc., the No. 3 U.S. office-supplies retailer, said it would restate income for the first three quarters of last year after completing a probe that found employees fabricated $3.3 million in rebates billed to suppliers. The audit committee investigation discovered the company overstated operating income by as much as $5 million during the first nine months of 2004, Itasca, Ill.-based OfficeMax said.

Retailer OfficeMax Inc. announced the resignation Monday of Chief Executive Christopher Milliken and acknowledged misstating 2004 results amid an accounting scandal. The company also said it had fired two more employees, increasing to six the number terminated for sending $3.3 million in bogus bills to a supplier over a two-year period. The disclosures were the latest in a series of problems for the company since last fall, when it changed its name from Boise Cascade Corp.

OfficeMax Inc. announced the resignation of its new chief financial officer Wednesday and said its fourth-quarter earnings report would be delayed because of accounting problems, compounding recent financial turmoil at the nation's No. 3 office products retailer. The latest dose of bad news sent shares in the company down $1.42, or 5%, to $28.88 on the New York Stock Exchange -- 24% off the 52-week high of $38.01 reached in June.

OfficeMax Inc., the No. 3 U.S. office-products retailer, said Monday that it was investigating claims by a vendor that some company employees demanded promotional payments and falsified documents. The stock fell 4.2% on the news. The unidentified supplier said workers inappropriately asked for payments and altered supporting documents for about $3.3 million in bills in 2003 and 2004, OfficeMax said.