UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, DC 20549

FORM 10-K

(Mark One)

Or

Commission file number 1-10948

The ODP Corporation

(Exact Name of Registrant as Specified in its Charter)

(561) 438-4800

(Registrant’s telephone number, including area code)

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act: None

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act. Yes ☒ No ☐

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Act. Yes ☐ No ☒

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports) and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days: Yes ☒ No ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§ 232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit such files): Yes ☒ No ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company, or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer” “accelerated filer,” “smaller reporting company,” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.:

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has filed a report on and attestation to its management’s assessment of the effectiveness of its internal control over financial reporting under Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (15 U.S.C. 7262(b)) by the registered public accounting firm that prepared or issued its audit report. ☒

If securities are registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act, indicate by check mark whether the financial statements of the registrant included in the filing reflect the correction of an error to previously issued financial statements. ☐

Indicate by check mark whether any of those error corrections are restatements that required a recovery analysis of incentive-based compensation received by any of the registrant’s executive officers during the relevant recovery period pursuant to §240.10D-1(b). ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Act). Yes ☐ No ☒

The aggregate market value of common stock held by non-affiliates of the registrant as of July 2, 2023 (based on the closing market price of the common stock on the Composite Tape on June 30, 2023) was approximately $1,722,730,616 (determined by subtracting from the number of shares outstanding on that date the number of shares held by affiliates of the registrant).

The number of shares outstanding of the registrant’s common stock, as of the latest practicable date: At February 21, 2024, there were 36,628,247 outstanding shares of The ODP Corporation Common Stock, $0.01 par value.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

The order and presentation of this Annual Report on Form 10-K differ from that of the traditional U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) Form 10-K format. We believe that our format better presents the relevant sections of this document and enhances readability. See “Form 10-K Cross-Reference Index” within Financial Statements and Supplemental Details for a cross-reference index to the traditional SEC Form 10-K format.

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 30, 2023 (“Annual Report”) contains forward-looking statements, within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (the “Reform Act”), that involve risks and uncertainties. These forward-looking statements include both historical information and other information that can be used to infer future performance. Examples of historical information include annual financial statements and the commentary on past performance contained in Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations (“MD&A”). While certain information has specifically been identified as being forward-looking in the context of its presentation, we caution you that, with the exception of information that is historical, all the information contained in this Annual Report should be considered to be “forward-looking statements” as referred to in the Reform Act. Without limiting the generality of the preceding sentence, any time we use the words “estimate,” “project,” “intend,” “expect,” “believe,” “anticipate,” “continue,” “may,” “will” and similar expressions, we intend to clearly express that the information deals with possible future events and is forward-looking in nature. Certain information in MD&A is clearly forward-looking in nature, and without limiting the generality of the preceding cautionary statements, we specifically advise you to consider all of MD&A in the light of the cautionary statements set forth herein.

Much of the information in this Annual Report that looks towards future performance of The ODP Corporation and its consolidated subsidiaries is based on various factors and important assumptions about future events that may or may not actually come true. As a result, our operations and financial results in the future could differ materially and substantially from those we have discussed in this Annual Report. Significant factors that could impact our future results are provided in “Risk Factors” within Other Key Information in this Annual Report. Other risk factors are incorporated into the text of MD&A, which should itself be considered a statement of future risks and uncertainties, as well as management’s view of our businesses. We assume no obligation (and specifically disclaim any such obligation) to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.

In this Annual Report, unless the context otherwise requires, the “Company,” “ODP,” “we,” “us,” and “our” refer to The ODP Corporation and its subsidiaries.

THE COMPANY

The ODP Corporation (including its consolidated subsidiaries, “ODP” or the “Company”) is a leading provider of products, services and technology solutions through an integrated business-to-business (“B2B”) distribution platform and omni-channel presence, which includes supply chain and distribution operations, dedicated sales professionals, a B2B digital procurement solution, online presence, and a network of Office Depot and OfficeMax retail stores. We were incorporated in the state of Delaware in 1986 with the name Office Depot, Inc. and opened our first retail store in Fort Lauderdale, Florida on October 9, 1986.

Our vision is to empower every business, professional and consumer with the products and services they need to achieve more every day. We achieve our vision by driving our low-cost business model and continuing to provide our customers with innovative products and services they need to sustainably grow their businesses. We remain focused on driving stable growth and deploying a disciplined capital management strategy, which has helped position us as a leading provider of business products, services and supplies, and digital workplace technology solutions to small, medium and enterprise-level businesses. Our foundation is our 5C culture, which is customer, commitment, creativity, change and caring. These 5Cs drive strong community support and focus on sustainability, diversity and environmental improvements.

We operate through four business units including ODP Business Solutions, LLC; Office Depot, LLC; Veyer, LLC; and Varis, Inc. These four synergistic and defined business units position us to deliver value as follows:

FISCAL YEAR

Our fiscal year results are based on a 52- or 53-week calendar ending on the last Saturday in December. Fiscal year 2023 had 52 weeks and ended on December 30, 2023. Fiscal year 2022 had 53 weeks and ended on December 31, 2022. Fiscal year 2021 had 52 weeks and ended on December 25, 2021. Certain subsidiaries operate on a calendar year basis; however, the reporting difference did not have a material impact on 2023 and the other periods presented.

AVAILABLE INFORMATION

We make available, free of charge, on the “Investor Relations” section of our website, investor.theodpcorp.com, our annual reports on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, current reports on Form 8-K and amendments to those reports filed or furnished pursuant to Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”), as soon as reasonably practicable after we electronically file or furnish such materials to the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”). The SEC maintains an Internet site that contains reports, proxy and information statements and other information regarding issuers, such as the Company, that file electronically with the SEC. The address of that website is www.sec.gov.

Additionally, our corporate governance materials, including our bylaws, corporate governance guidelines, charters of the Audit, Compensation & Talent, and Corporate Governance & Nominating Committees, and our code of ethical behavior may be found under the “Investor Relations” section of our website, investor.theodpcorp.com.

HOW WE ORGANIZE OUR BUSINESS

At December 30, 2023, our operations are organized into four reportable segments (or “Divisions”): ODP Business Solutions Division, Office Depot Division, Veyer Division, and Varis Division. We sold our CompuCom Division in the first quarter of 2022. Additional information regarding our Divisions is presented in MD&A and in Note 4. “Segment Information” in Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements located in Financial Statements and Supplemental Details of this Annual Report.

ODP BUSINESS SOLUTIONS DIVISION

The ODP Business Solutions Division, or ODP BSD, is our leading B2B distribution solutions provider serving small, medium and enterprise level companies, including those in the public and education sectors. This segment operates in the United States, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Canada. The ODP Business Solutions Division sells nationally branded, as well as our private branded, office supply and adjacency products and services to customers, who are served through a dedicated sales force, catalogs, telesales, and electronically through our Internet websites. Adjacency products and services include cleaning, janitorial, and breakroom supplies, office furniture, technology products, and copy and print services. This segment also includes our Federation entities, which are over 20 regional office supply distribution businesses acquired by us as part of our transformation to expand our reach and distribution network into geographic areas that were previously underserved, and which continue to operate under their own brand names. The acquisition of these businesses has allowed for an effective and accretive opportunity to expand our distribution reach, target new business customers and grow our offerings beyond traditional office supplies.

In 2023, we continued to build on several initiatives to expand our margins, grow in adjacency product and services categories, and increase cash flows of ODP BSD, including the following:

OFFICE DEPOT DIVISION

The Office Depot Division is our leading provider of retail consumer and small business products and services distributed through a fully integrated omni-channel platform of 916 Office Depot and OfficeMax retail locations in the United States, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, and our eCommerce presence (www.officedepot.com). Our Office Depot Division sells office supplies, technology products and solutions, business machines and related supplies, cleaning, breakroom and facilities products, personal protective equipment, and office furniture, and offers business services including copying, printing, digital imaging, mailing, shipping and technology support services. In addition, the printing needs for retail and business customers are facilitated through our regional print production centers. Our Office Depot Division aims to serve small business, home office, educational customers, and consumers better than anyone else can by providing a unique combination of value, convenience and customer engagement.

We have a broad representation across the United States with the largest concentration of our retail stores in Texas, California, and Florida. Most of our retail stores are located in leased facilities that currently average over 20,000 square feet. To better serve our customers and to provide more options in how they choose to shop, we have a Buy Online-Pickup in Store (“BOPIS”) offering, and a 20 minute in-store or curbside pick-up guarantee for online orders placed two hours before our store closing time in all locations. We also offer same-day delivery in selected markets.

In 2023, we continued to build on several initiatives to drive cash flow generation from our Office Depot Division, including the following:

In 2020, we implemented the Maximize B2B Restructuring Plan, a restructuring plan to re-align our operational focus to support our “business-to-business” solutions and IT services business units and improve costs. Implementation of the Maximize B2B Restructuring Plan was expected to be substantially completed by the end of 2023. In December 2022, our Board of Directors approved to extend the program through the end of 2024. The Maximize B2B Restructuring Plan aims to generate savings through optimizing the Company’s retail footprint, removing costs that directly support the Retail business and additional measures to implement a company-wide low-cost business model, which will then be invested in accelerating the growth of the Company’s business-to-business platform. Since the implementation of the Maximize B2B Restructuring Plan, we have closed a total of 297 retail stores as a result of this plan. Refer to Note 3. “Merger, Restructuring and Other Activity” in Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements for additional information.

VEYER DIVISION

The Veyer Division is our supply chain, distribution, procurement and global sourcing operation, which specializes in B2B and consumer business service delivery, with core competencies in distribution, fulfillment, transportation, global sourcing and purchasing. The Veyer Division’s customers include our Office Depot Division and ODP Business Solutions Division, as well as third-party customers. The Veyer Division also includes the Company’s global sourcing operations in Asia.

The Veyer Division’s assets and capabilities include eight million square feet of infrastructure through a nationwide network of distribution centers (“DCs”), crossdocks, and other facilities, which provides for coverage in all the key markets we serve. We have a workforce of approximately 3,000 team members, and a robust network of dedicated national and international carrier partnerships, supporting ocean, line haul, less than truckload and national small parcel capacity. We have a private fleet of over 500 vehicles in the Veyer Division’s delivery fleet and a nationwide last-mile delivery service. With our network coverage, we can reach 98.5% of the U.S. population for next day services across multiple distribution points, whether they are retail stores, consumer homes, or businesses. Our local and global sourcing offices in Asia select, source and purchase products each year in office product, technology, furniture, cleaning and breakroom categories, including private brands, all of which we distribute for our customers throughout our network. These assets are supported by quality technology that supports a high level of service for our customers and reduces Veyer Division’s operating costs.

In 2023, we continued to build on several initiatives to drive incremental income through our Veyer Division, including the following:

VARIS DIVISION

The Varis Division is our tech-enabled B2B indirect procurement marketplace, which provides a seamless way for buyers and suppliers to transact through the platform’s consumer-like buying experience, advanced spend management tools, network of suppliers, and technology capabilities. In connection with our development efforts of this Division, we acquired BuyerQuest Holdings, Inc. (“BuyerQuest”) in 2021, a software as a service eProcurement platform company. BuyerQuest’s operating results are included in the operating results for our Varis Division. The Varis Division currently serves enterprise businesses and provides its services to middle- and small-sized businesses. It is focused on filling the growing demand for a B2B centric digital commerce platform that is modern, trusted, and provides the procurement controls and visibility businesses require to operate.

OUR CAPITAL

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

We currently operate under the brand names Office Depot®, OfficeMax® and Grand & Toy®, as well as others. We hold trademark registrations and pending applications domestically and worldwide for these operating brands as well as for a wide assortment of private branded products and services including “Office Depot,” “TUL®,” “Ativa®,” “Foray®,” “Realspace®,” “WorkPro®,” “Brenton Studio®,” “Highmark®,” “Executive Suite®,” “Juku®,” and others. We also hold issued patents and pending patent applications domestically and worldwide for certain private branded products, such as shredders, office chairs and writing instruments.

HUMAN CAPITAL MANAGEMENT

As of January 27, 2024, we had approximately 20,000 full-time and part-time employees from continuing operations as compared to 25,000 full-time and part-time employees as of January 28, 2023. The year-on-year change is mainly attributable to planned store closures and other cost reduction measures. We also utilize independent contractors and temporary personnel to supplement our workforce. Our key human capital management objectives are to attract, retain and develop talent to drive our strategy for long-term success.

Our Board of Directors provides oversight on certain human capital management matters, including through its Compensation & Talent Committee. The Compensation & Talent Committee is responsible for overseeing and providing perspective on our strategies and policies including with respect to diversity and inclusion, pay equity, recruiting, retention, training and development, and workplace environment and safety consistent with our culture, objectives and strategy. At The ODP Corporation, we recognize the importance of supporting diversity and inclusion and are committed to promoting a safe, trusting environment where our associates, customers and vendors feel valued, respected and accepted. We are proud of the diversity within our Board of Directors, comprised of 42% female directors and 28% of directors who are people of color. Our total workforce is 42% female.

Human capital engagement and development underpins our efforts to execute our strategy. Our approach to employee engagement is centered on fostering a safe workplace culture that respects and values differences and is inclusive. We achieve this by establishing a platform to regularly check-in and gauge employee engagement, utilizing the survey results and feedback to gain insights, identify strengths and areas of opportunity, and take actions to improve. To consistently promote engagement, we encourage employees to participate in Associate Resource Groups (“ARGs”). These employee-led groups focus on cultivating a sense of community, providing support, and fostering a culture of belonging and inclusivity. Currently, our 10 enterprise ARGs represent diverse dimensions of our workforce, actively contributing to a welcoming and inclusive environment and advocating for allyship and engagement within the groups, the organization, and the communities they support.

We continue to invest in our employees’ career growth and provide employees with a range of personal and professional development opportunities through our enterprise learning platform, special projects, coaching and mentoring, and other avenues. Our enterprise culture programs, such as our ARGs, community outreach and philanthropic efforts provide additional opportunities for associates to expand their networks, skillsets and leadership competencies, contributing to their overall growth and well-being, leading to increased job satisfaction, motivation, and a positive work environment.

We have a demonstrated history of investing in our workforce through comprehensive and competitive compensation and benefits, and a focus on employee health and well-being. A key component of our foundation is our 5C culture, which is built on five key cultural values: “customer,” “commitment,” “change,” “caring,” and “creativity.” Our 5C culture drives exceptional performance in everything we do. We focus on the skills and behaviors that matter most, shaping our culture through actions. Our 5C focus helps drive strong community support and focuses on sustainability, diversity, and environmental improvements, driving a stronger and more effective organization.

OUR STRATEGY

SUPPLY CHAIN

Our supply chain is managed by our Veyer Division. Refer to the “How we organize our business” section above for further information on our supply chain capabilities and resources. We believe that inventory held in our DCs is at levels sufficient to meet current and anticipated customer needs. Certain purchases are sent directly from the manufacturer, industry wholesaler or other primary supplier to our customers or retail stores. Some supply chain facilities and some retail locations also house sales offices, showrooms, and administrative offices supporting our contract sales channel.

As of December 30, 2023, we operated a total of 62 DCs and crossdock facilities from continuing operations in the United States and Canada. Including our satellite locations, we had over 90 facilities in our distribution network. Refer to “Properties” within Other Key Information for more details.

MERCHANDISING AND SERVICES

Our merchandising and services strategy is to meet our customers’ needs by offering a broad selection of nationally branded office supply and adjacency products, as well as our own private branded products and services. The selection of our private branded products has increased in breadth and level of sophistication over time. We currently offer products under such labels, including Office Depot®, OfficeMax®, Foray®, Ativa®, TUL®, Realspace®, WorkPro®, Brenton Studio®, Highmark®, and Grand & Toy®.

We generally classify our offerings into four categories: (1) supplies, (2) technology, (3) furniture and other, and (4) copy and print. The supplies category includes products such as paper, writing instruments, office supplies, cleaning and breakroom supplies, personal protective equipment, and product subscriptions. The technology category includes products such as toner and ink, printers, computers, tablets and accessories electronic storage, and sales of third-party software, as well as technology support services offerings provided in our retail stores. The furniture and other category includes products such as desks, seating, luggage, gift cards, and warranties. The copy and print category includes offerings such as printing of business cards, banners, documents and promotional products, copying and photo services, and managed print and fulfillment services.

Total Company sales by offering were as follows:

We buy substantially all of our merchandise through our Veyer Division directly from manufacturers, industry wholesalers, and other primary suppliers, and source our private branded products from domestic and offshore sources. We enter into arrangements with vendors that can lower our unit product costs if certain volume thresholds or other criteria are met. For additional discussion regarding these arrangements, refer to “Critical Accounting Policies” in MD&A.

In recent years, we have increasingly used global offerings across the regions to further reduce our product cost while maintaining product quality.

As part of our Veyer Division, we operate a global sourcing office in Shenzhen, China, which allows us to better manage our product sourcing, logistics and quality assurance. This office consolidates our purchasing power with Asian factories and, in turn, helps us to increase the scope of our own branded offerings.

SALES AND MARKETING

We regularly assess consumer shopping behaviors in order to refine our strategy and curate the desired product assortment, shopping environment and purchasing methods. Identifying the most desirable and effective way to reach our customers and allowing them to shop through whichever channel they prefer will continue to be a priority. These efforts have impacted the extent, format and vehicles we use to advertise to and reach customers, our web page design, promotions and product offerings.

Our marketing programs are designed to create and capture demand, drive frequency of customer visits, increase customer spend across product lines, and build brand awareness. We have shifted a meaningful amount of our marketing efforts in recent periods to digital programs that increase demand generation, enhance audience targeting and include the use of social media platforms and digital videos. We also continue to advertise through traditional outbound marketing vehicles such as e-mail, direct mail and catalogs.

Our customer loyalty and other incentive programs provide our customers with rewards that can be applied towards future purchases or other incentives. These programs enable us to effectively market to our customers and may change as customer preferences shift.

We perform periodic competitive pricing analyses to monitor each market, and prices are adjusted as necessary to further our competitive positioning. We generally target our pricing to be competitive with other resellers of office products and providers of business services and technology solutions. Refer to “Industry and Competition” below for further information.

Our customer acquisition efforts regularly shift to vehicles and formats found to be most productive for reaching the targeted customer. We acquire customers through e-mail and social media campaigns, online affiliate connections, on-premises sales calls, outbound sales calls, and catalogs, among others. No single customer accounted for more than 10% of total consolidated sales or receivables in 2023, 2022 or 2021. Additionally, we believe that none of our business segments is dependent upon a single customer or a few customers, the loss of which would have a material adverse effect in our consolidated results of operations.

SEASONALITY

Our business experiences a certain level of seasonality, with sales generally trending lower in the second quarter, following the “back-to-business” sales cycle in the first quarter and preceding the “back-to-school” sales cycle in the third quarter and the holiday sales cycle in the fourth quarter for our ODP Business Solutions and Office Depot Divisions. Certain working capital components may build and recede during the year reflecting established selling cycles. Business cycles can and have impacted our operations and financial position when compared to other periods.

INDUSTRY AND COMPETITION

We operate in a highly competitive environment. Our ODP Business Solutions and Office Depot Divisions compete with office supply stores, warehouse clubs, discount stores, mass merchandisers, independent dealers, wholesalers, online retailers, off-price retailers, food and drug stores, computer and electronics superstores and direct marketing companies. These companies compete with us in substantially all of our current markets. Increased competition in the office products markets, together with increased advertising, and Internet-based search tools, has heightened price awareness among end-users. Such heightened price awareness has led to sales and margin pressure on our office products categories and has impacted our results. In addition to price, we also compete based on customer service, the quality and extent of product selection and convenience. Other office supply retail companies market similarly to us in terms of store format, pricing strategy, product selection and product availability in the markets where we operate. Although we also compete through our private label offerings, some of our competitors are larger than us and have greater financial resources, which provide them with greater purchasing power, increased financial flexibility and more capital resources for expansion and improvement, which may enable them to compete more effectively. We anticipate that in the future we will continue to face high levels of competition from these companies.

We believe our robust field sales forces, dedicated customer service associates and the efficiency and convenience for our customers position our ODP Business Solutions Division well to compete with other business-to-business office products distributors. We believe our Office Depot Division competes favorably against competitors based on convenience, location, the quality of our customer service, our store layouts, the range and depth of our merchandise offering and our pricing.

Our Veyer Division competes externally with supply chain operators, and our Varis Division competes with other digital platform operations and procurement technologies. As we continue to work towards growing external sales of our Veyer Division and our Varis Division, how they compete in their respective industries is expected to be further defined.

ENVIRONMENTAL, SOCIAL AND GOVERNANCE (ESG)

We believe that ESG issues play an essential role in the long-term success of our Company, our industry, and our communities, both today and future generations. We are committed to conducting our business in a sustainable manner and maintain policies and procedures that form the foundation of our environmental responsibility program.

Our sustainability initiatives are guided by a “triple bottom line” approach, which focuses on Planet (environmental), People (social) and Prosperity (economic). While the environmental and social aspects help us lower emissions, capture community impacts, and quantify various metrics, we also understand that they ultimately contribute to our success by generating greater business value.

Empowering our employees and suppliers at all levels to promote safe and environmentally responsible practices while focusing on initiatives such as the reduction of facility energy consumption, reduction in emissions in our private fleet, and minimizing the use of harmful chemicals is an integral part of our program. Our strategy includes priority goals such as science-based targets for greenhouse gas (“GHG”) emissions reduction, plastic reduction, and achieving Zero Waste in a significant percentage of our DCs.

To meet these goals, we have put in place a robust business management system to oversee initiatives, measure and report on key performance indicators, and adjust plans as necessary. Board oversight is a vital part of our governance model: the Corporate Governance & Nominating Committee assumes responsibility for overseeing the Company’s strategy and programs related to corporate social responsibility, the environment, and sustainability. The Audit Committee reviews the Company’s controls and procedures over ESG disclosures, including related data and metrics, and legislative and regulatory developments, including changes to the SEC’s rules and regulations, affecting ESG disclosures within the financial reporting framework. The Compensation and Talent Committee oversees the Company’s strategies and policies related to human capital development matters, including diversity and inclusion, pay equity, recruiting, retention, training and development, and workplace environment and safety consistent with the Company’s culture and strategy, and reviews and discusses with management the Company’s disclosure related to human capital management to be included in the Company’s Annual Reports on Form 10-K.

Accomplishments are visible in our implementation of environmental programs aligned with our policy to “buy greener, be greener and sell greener.” We don’t merely focus on our operations but aim to help our customers achieve their sustainability goals as well by increasing the sales of high-quality, sustainable products with greener attributes. We provide reporting to our B2B customers to track performance.

Our commitment to transparency is reinforced through comprehensive disclosures in our annual Sustainability Report and on our website.

WHO MANAGES OUR BUSINESS

INFORMATION ABOUT OUR EXECUTIVE OFFICERS

The following information is provided regarding the executive officers of ODP.

Gerry P. Smith — Age: 60

Mr. Smith was appointed to serve as our Chief Executive Officer and a Director in February 2017. Prior to joining us and since 2006, Mr. Smith was at Lenovo Group Limited (“Lenovo”) and previously served as Lenovo’s Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer since 2016 where he was responsible for all operations across Lenovo’s global product portfolio. Prior to assuming this role, also in 2016, Mr. Smith was Executive Vice President and President, Data Center Group. From 2015 to 2016, he served as Chief Operating Officer of the Personal Computing Group and Enterprise Business Group, and from 2013 to 2015 he served as President of the Americas. In these roles, Mr. Smith oversaw Lenovo’s fast-growing enterprise business worldwide and Lenovo’s overall business in the America’s region. Prior to that, Mr. Smith was President, North America and Senior Vice President, Global Operations of Lenovo from 2012 to 2013, and Senior Vice President of Global Supply Chain of Lenovo from 2006 until 2012 where he was responsible for end-to-end supply chain management. Prior to Lenovo, Mr. Smith held a number of executive positions at Dell Inc. from 1994 until 2006, as the company became a global leader in personal computers. Since August 2020, he serves on the Board of Directors of Arrow Electronics, Inc. and is the Chair of its Compensation Committee. In January 2022, Mr. Smith became a founding member of the Advisory Board for Zero100, a global coalition of CEOs, Chief Operations and Supply Chain Officers working to accelerate progress towards zero percent carbon, 100% digital supply chains.

David Centrella — Age: 53

Mr. Centrella was appointed to serve as our Executive Vice President and President of ODP Business Solutions in May 2022. Mr. Centrella joined the Company in 1998 and has over 30 years of experience in Finance, Merchandising, Sales and Sales Operations in various leadership roles during his tenure, including most recently as Sr. Vice President of FP&A. Mr. Centrella is responsible for core B2B sales and operations across all customer segments and vertical markets.

Sarah E. Hlavinka — Age: 59

Ms. Hlavinka was appointed to serve as our Executive Vice President, Chief Legal Officer and Corporate Secretary in July 2022, and previously served as General Counsel of Office Depot, LLC from April 2022 to July 2022. Prior to joining The ODP Corporation, Ms. Hlavinka served as Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary for Itron, Inc. Prior to Itron, Inc., she served in a similar role at Xerox and served in various legal roles in companies across a broad range of disciplines. Ms. Hlavinka has served on the Board of Directors of Quanterix Corporation since 2019 and is a member of its Corporate Governance and Audit Committees.

Max Hood — Age: 45

Mr. Hood was appointed to serve as our Senior Vice President, Chief Accounting Officer & Controller in February 2023. Mr. Hood joined us in 2018 as Vice President in Accounting, including oversight of Treasury between March 2021 and August 2022. Prior to joining us, Mr. Hood had several roles at GE between 2010 and 2018, with the latest being the Global Operations Controller for its Energy Connections division. Mr. Hood began his career at Deloitte & Touche LLP as part of their Audit & Assurance practice for nine years. Mr. Hood is also a Certified Public Accountant.

John W. Gannfors — Age: 58

Mr. Gannfors was appointed to serve as our Executive Vice President and President of Veyer in September 2022. He previously served as Executive Vice President and Chief Merchandising and Supply Chain Officer from August 2018 to September 2022. Mr. Gannfors served as Executive Vice President, Transformation, Strategic Sourcing and Supply Chain from July 2017 to August 2018, and as our Executive Vice President, Transformation and Strategic Sourcing when he joined the Company in April 2017. Prior to joining us, Mr. Gannfors served as Chief Procurement Officer at Lenovo, where he spent nearly ten years. Prior to assuming this role, Mr. Gannfors served in various leadership roles at Dell Inc. Mr. Gannfors began his career in Product Management at Lockheed Martin’s Calcomp division and Definicon Systems.

Zöe Maloney — Age: 51

Ms. Maloney was appointed to serve as our Executive Vice President, Chief Human Resources Officer in November 2021. Ms. Maloney joined us in February 2005 and has more than 25 years of experience in communications, organization and leadership development, and human resources and held several executive management roles including serving as our Senior Vice President, Human Resources from April 2017 to October 2021; Vice President, Human Resources from August 2011 to April 2017; and Senior Director, Communications & Engagement from 2010 to 2011. Prior to joining us, Ms. Maloney served in various management positions at Johnson & Johnson, 3-Dimensional Pharmaceuticals, and CDI International.

Kevin Moffitt — Age: 50

Mr. Moffitt was appointed to serve as our Executive Vice President and President of Office Depot in September 2022. He previously served as Executive Vice President, Chief Retail Officer from November 2018 to September 2022. Mr. Moffitt served as our Senior Vice President, Chief Retail Officer from January 2018 to November 2018; Senior Vice President, Chief Digital Officer in 2017; Senior Vice President, eCommerce & Direct Business Unit Leader from 2016 to 2017; and as our Vice President, eCommerce Product Management and Customer Experience from 2012 to 2016. Prior to joining us, he held several leadership roles at Dillard’s Department Stores, Circuit City Stores and Putnam Investments.

D. Anthony Scaglione — Age: 51

Mr. Scaglione was appointed to serve as our Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer in July 2020. Prior to joining the Company, Mr. Scaglione served as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer at ABM Industries Incorporated (“ABM”), where he was responsible for all financial, M&A, IT, tax, enterprise services and procurement functions from 2015 to 2020. Mr. Scaglione joined ABM as Vice President & Treasurer in 2009, and was Senior Vice President, Treasurer, Mergers & Acquisitions from 2012 to 2015. Prior to joining ABM, Mr. Scaglione held executive finance positions at CA Technologies from 2005 to 2009. Prior to CA Technologies, Mr. Scaglione served as a manager with Ernst & Young from 2001 to 2005.

OTHER KEY INFORMATION

RISK FACTORS

In addition to risks and uncertainties in the ordinary course of business that are common to all businesses, important factors that are specific to us and our industry could materially impact our business, financial condition, results of operations, cash flows and future performance and results. You should carefully consider the risks described below in our subsequent periodic filings with the SEC. The following risk factors should be read in conjunction with MD&A and Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements of this Annual Report.

Risks Related to Our Industry and Macroeconomic Conditions

Macroeconomic conditions have and may continue to adversely affect our business and financial performance.

Our operating results and performance depend significantly on economic conditions and their impact on business and consumer spending. In the past, the decline in business and consumer spending has caused our comparable retail store sales, sales on our eCommerce platform, and ODP BSD sales to decline from prior periods. The global macroeconomic outlook continues to remain uncertain due to a variety of factors, including geopolitical instability, labor shortages, supply chain disruptions, fuel costs, and inflation related to increased occupancy, raw materials and other costs, and the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic may continue, all of which may continue to exacerbate many of the other risks described in this “Risk Factors” section, any of which could have a material effect on us. Our business and financial performance may continue to be adversely affected by current and future economic conditions, including, without limitation, the level of consumer debt, high levels of unemployment, higher interest rates and the ability of our customers to obtain credit, which may cause a continued or further decline in business and consumer spending. In addition, a weaker U.S. economy, higher unemployment and/or inflation on essential goods will materially impact consumer spending. Decreased foot traffic at our stores and declining financial performance of or product demand from our business customers has and will continue to adversely impact future sales.

The COVID-19 pandemic has had widespread impacts on global society, economies, financial markets and consumer and business spending. Given that businesses still continue remote and hybrid working arrangements, this has impacted and will continue to impact our business and the demand for our products, particularly for our business units which serve business customers.

Our business is highly competitive and failure to adequately differentiate ourselves or respond to shifting consumer demands could continue to adversely impact our financial performance.

The office products market is highly competitive and we compete locally, domestically and internationally with office supply resellers, including Staples, Internet-based companies such as Amazon.com, mass merchandisers such as Walmart and Target, wholesale clubs such as Costco, Sam’s Club and BJs, computer and electronics superstores such as Best Buy, food and drug stores, discount stores, and direct marketing companies. Some competitors may offer a broader assortment of products or have more extensive e-commerce channels, while others have substantially greater financial resources to devote to sourcing, marketing and selling their products. The ability of consumers to compare prices on a real-time basis using digital technology puts additional pressure on us to maintain competitive pricing. In addition, consumers are utilizing more technology and purchasing less paper, ink and toner, physical file storage and general office supplies. In order to achieve and maintain expected profitability levels, we must continue to grow by adding new customers and taking market share from competitors. If we are not able to compete effectively, it could negatively affect our business and results of operations.

Consumers and businesses continue to focus on delivery services, with customers increasingly seeking faster, guaranteed delivery times and low-price or free shipping. Our ability to be competitive on delivery times and delivery costs depends on many factors, and our failure to successfully manage these factors and offer competitive delivery options could negatively impact the demand for our products and our profit margins. Because our business strategy is based on offering superior levels of customer service and a full range of services to complement the products we offer, our cost structure might be higher than some of our competitors, and this, in conjunction with price transparency, could put pressure on our margins.

Our quarterly operating results are subject to fluctuation due to the seasonality of our business.

Our business experiences a certain level of seasonality with sales generally trending lower in the second quarter, following the “back-to-business” sales cycle in the first quarter and preceding the “back-to-school” sales cycle in the third quarter and the holiday sales cycle in the fourth quarter. As a result, our operating results have fluctuated from quarter to quarter in the past, with sales and profitability being generally stronger in the second half of our fiscal year than the first half of our fiscal year. Factors that could also cause these quarterly fluctuations include: the pricing behavior of our competitors; the types and mix of products sold; the level of advertising and promotional expenses; severe weather; global pandemic; macroeconomic factors that affect consumer confidence and spending; and the other risk factors described in this section. Most of our operating expenses, such as occupancy costs and associate salaries, are not variable, and so short-term adjustments to reflect quarterly results are difficult. As a result, if sales in certain quarters are significantly below expectations, we may not be able to proportionately reduce operating expenses for that quarter, and therefore such a sales shortfall would have an adverse effect on our net income for the quarter.

Increases in fuel and other commodity prices could have an adverse impact on our earnings.

We operate a large network of retail stores, distribution centers, and delivery vehicles. As such, we purchase significant amounts of fuel needed to transport products to our retail stores and customers as well as shipping costs to import products from overseas. Additionally, the performance of certain of our divisions is dependent upon market conditions in the transportation and logistics industry, including fluctuations in fuel costs. While we may hedge our anticipated fuel purchases, the underlying commodity costs associated with this transport activity is beyond our control and may be volatile. Recently, the supply and availability of fuel in markets in which we operate have experienced increased volatility and have led to changes in fuel prices. Disruptions in availability of fuel or future increases in the price of fuel could cause our operating costs to rise significantly to the extent not covered by our hedges and could have a negative impact on our ability to operate our transportation networks. Additionally, other commodity prices, such as paper, may increase and we may not be able to pass along such costs to our customers. Fluctuations in the availability or cost of our energy and other commodity prices could have a material adverse effect on our profitability.

Increased transportation costs and changes in the relationships with independent shipping companies may have an adverse effect on our business.

We rely upon third-party carriers for timely delivery of certain product shipments. As a result, we are subject to carrier disruptions and increased costs due to factors that are beyond our control, including employee strikes, labor organization, inclement weather and increased labor and fuel costs. Any failure to deliver products to our customers in a timely and accurate manner may damage our reputation and brand and may cause us to lose customers. If our relationship with any of these third-party carriers is terminated or impaired, or if any of these third parties are unable to ship products for us, we would be required to use alternative, and possibly more expensive, carriers for the shipment of products. We may be unable to engage alternative carriers on a timely basis or on terms favorable to us, if at all, which may have an adverse effect on our results of operations, financial condition and cash flows. Changes in shipping terms, or the inability of these third-party shippers to perform effectively (whether as a result of mechanical failure, casualty loss, labor stoppage, insolvency, or any other reason), may have an adverse effect on our results of operations, financial condition and cash flows. Additionally, deterioration of the financial condition of these third-party carriers may have an adverse effect on our shipping costs. Any future increases in shipping rates may have an adverse effect on our results of operations, financial condition and cash flows, particularly if we are unable to pass on these higher costs to our customers.

Catastrophic events could adversely affect our operating results.

The risk or actual occurrence of one or more catastrophic events could have a material adverse effect on our financial performance. Such events may be caused by, for example:

The COVID-19 pandemic has had, and may continue to have, a material adverse impact on our business and results of operations. Such catastrophic events could result in physical damage to, or complete loss of, one or more of our properties, the closure of one of more stores, the lack of an adequate work force in the market, changes in the purchasing patterns of consumers (including the frequency of visits by consumers to physical retail locations, whether as a result of limitations on large gatherings, travel and movement limitations or otherwise) and in consumers’ disposable income, the temporary or long-term disruption in the supply of products from some suppliers, the disruption in the transport of goods from overseas, the disruption or delay in the delivery of goods to our distribution and fulfillment centers or stores within the country, the reduction in the availability of products in our stores and can disrupt or disable portions of our supply chain and distribution network. They can also affect our information systems, resulting in disruption to various aspects of our operations, including our ability to transact with customers and fulfill orders.

Furthermore, the long-term impacts of climate change, whether involving physical risks (such as extreme weather conditions) or transition risks (such as regulatory or technology changes) are expected to be widespread and unpredictable. These changes over time could affect, for example, the availability and cost of certain consumer products, commodities and energy (including utilities), which in turn may impact our ability to manufacture or procure certain goods required for the operation of our business at the quantities and levels we require. Additionally, any initiatives to mitigate the effect of climate change may be cost prohibitive. As a consequence of these or other catastrophic events, we may endure interruption to our operations or losses of property, equipment or inventory, which would adversely affect our revenue and profitability. For example, hurricanes can disrupt operations in the southeastern United States and the Gulf Coast region where a heavy concentration of our customers are located, and negatively impact sales in both our ODP Business Solutions and Office Depot Divisions or operations of our Veyer unit. Moreover, current or future insurance arrangements may be subject to deductibles and/or not provide protection for costs that may arise from such events, particularly if such events are catastrophic in nature or occur in combination.

Risks Related to our Business and Operations

The re-alignment of our operating and reporting structure into four business units may not result in the anticipated benefits.

The Company has recently undergone a re-alignment of its business to four operating divisions. We may not realize, in full or in part, the anticipated benefits and improvements in our operations from our strategic business transformation due to unforeseen difficulties, delays or unexpected costs. If we are not able to effectively execute on our strategic business transformation, we may not be able to offer attractive value-added services to our customers or capture greater market share. We may have limited experience in our newer market segments, and our customers may not adopt our product or service offerings. These offerings, which can present new and difficult technology challenges, may subject us to claims if customers of these offerings experience, or are otherwise impacted by, service disruptions, delays, setbacks, or failures or quality issues. In addition, profitability, if any, in our newer activities may not meet our expectations, and we may not be successful enough in these newer activities to recoup our investments in them, which investments are significant. Failure to realize the benefits of amounts we invest in new technologies, products, or services could result in the value of those investments being written down or written off. In addition, our strategic business transformation may be disruptive to our existing operations and, among other things, implementing our new business plan will require significant managerial attention, which may be diverted from our other operations. If we are unable to realize the expected operational efficiencies and scaling benefits from the re-alignment, our business, financial condition and operating results may be adversely affected.

Our focus on new business offerings exposes us to certain risks and requires significant continued investment that could have a material adverse impact on our revenue and profitability as well as our reputation.

Our transformation into an integrated distribution platform of business services and products, including supply chain, distribution, procurement, global sourcing and our new digital procurement platform can differentiate us from many of our competitors and provide an opportunity to deliver superior customer service while generating additional revenue and profit. However, designing, marketing and executing these services successfully and consistently is subject to risks. These risks include, for example:

Our ability to compete successfully depends on our ability to ensure a continuing and timely introduction of innovative new products, services and technologies to the marketplace. If we are unable to pivot into a more business services-driven platform and sell innovative new products, our ability to gain a competitive advantage could be adversely affected.

These expanded risks increase the complexity of our business and places significant responsibility on our management, employees, operations, systems, technical expertise, financial resources, and internal financial and regulatory control and reporting functions. In addition, new initiatives we test through trials and pilots may not scale or grow effectively or as we expected, which could limit our growth and negatively affect our operating results. In order to continue to grow external sales, we continue to invest significant resources in developing new technology and capabilities to meet customers’ needs. The growth of these initiatives may also expose us to laws or regulations that are beyond our current expertise.

If we are unable to successfully refine and execute our business strategies, our operating performance could be significantly impacted.

Our ability to both refine our operating and strategic plans and execute the business activities associated with our refined plans, including cost savings initiatives, could impact our ability to meet our operating performance targets.

Our business strategy also includes making acquisitions and investments that complement our existing business as well as strategic divestitures to maximize value. These acquisitions and investments or divestitures could be unsuccessful or consume significant resources, which could adversely affect our operating results.

Our ability to achieve the benefits we anticipate from acquisitions we make will depend in large part upon whether we are able to leverage the capabilities of the acquired companies to grow revenue across our combined organization, manage the acquired company’s business, execute our strategy in an efficient and effective manner, integrate the acquired business effectively and realize anticipated cost synergies. In addition, private companies recently acquired which were previously not subject to Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (“SOX”), may lack certain internal controls, which could ultimately affect our ability to ensure compliance with the requirements of SOX.

Because our business and the business of acquired companies may differ operationally, we may not be able to effectively manage or oversee the operations of the acquired company’s business smoothly or successfully and the process of achieving expected revenue growth and cost synergies may take longer than expected. If we are unable to successfully manage the operations of the acquired company’s business, we may be unable to realize the revenue growth, cost synergies and other anticipated benefits we expect to achieve as a result of the acquisition.

While our business strategy may contemplate divestitures of certain business units, we may not be able to complete these divestitures on terms favorable to us, on a timely basis, or at all. Furthermore, desired or proposed divestitures of business units may not meet all of our strategic objectives or our growth or profitability targets. Our divestiture activities, or related activities such as reorganizations, restructuring programs and transformation initiatives, may require us to recognize impairment charges or to take action to reduce costs that remain after we complete a divestiture. Gains or losses on the sales of, or lost operating income from those businesses may also affect our profitability.

We may fail to realize the expected benefits of our strategic initiatives, including announced or potential future restructuring and transformation efforts.

In order to operate more efficiently and control costs, we recently announced our plans to make organizational restructuring changes to enhance operating results and increase shareholder returns. These plans include cost improvement actions across our entire enterprise, including our Varis Division, and optimizing our organizational structure to support future growth of our business. In addition, we began a strategic review of our Varis Division, which we expect to conclude by early May 2024. The failure to efficiently execute such initiatives as part of our business strategy could minimize the expected benefits to the organization resulting in potential impacts to ongoing operations and cost overruns.

Additionally, our ability to achieve the benefits from these initiatives within the expected time frame is subject to many estimates and assumptions and other factors that we may not be able to control. We may also incur significant charges related to restructuring plans, which would reduce our profitability in the periods such charges are incurred.

Due to the complexities inherent in implementing these types of cost reduction and restructuring activities, and the quarterly phasing of related investments, we may fail to realize expected efficiencies and benefits, such as the expected level of annual savings as a result of cost improvement actions, or may experience a delay in realizing such efficiencies and benefits, and our operations and business could be disrupted. Company management may be required to divert their focus to managing these disruptions. Risks associated with these actions and other workforce management issues include delays in implementation of anticipated workforce reductions, additional unexpected costs, changes in restructuring plans that increase or decrease the number of employees affected, adverse effects on employee morale, and the failure to meet operational targets due to the loss of employees, any of which may impair our ability to achieve anticipated cost reductions or may otherwise harm our business, and could have a material adverse effect on our sales growth and other results of operations, cash flows or financial condition, or competitive position.

Failure to attract and retain qualified personnel could have an adverse impact on our business.

Our performance is highly dependent on attracting, retaining and engaging appropriately qualified employees in our retail stores, distribution centers, field and corporate offices. The market for qualified employees, with the right talent and competencies, is highly competitive. Factors that affect our ability to maintain sufficient numbers of qualified employees include employee morale, our reputation, unemployment rates, competition from other employers, availability of qualified personnel and our ability to offer appropriate compensation and benefits packages. We operate in a competitive labor market and there is a risk that market increases in compensation and benefits costs could have a material adverse effect on our profitability. Failure to recruit or retain qualified employees, and the inability to keep our supply of skills and resources in balance with customer demand, may impair our efficiency and effectiveness, our ability to pursue growth opportunities and adversely affect our results of operations. In addition, a significant amount of turnover of our executive team or other employees in key positions with specific knowledge relating to us, our operations and our industry, may negatively impact our operations.

We depend on our executive management team and other key personnel, and the inability to recruit and retain certain personnel could adversely affect our performance and result in the loss of management continuity and institutional knowledge. From time to time, there may be changes in our senior management team resulting from the termination or departure of executives. In September 2023, we announced that Mr. Smith, our CEO, was taking a medical leave of absence, and Joseph S. Vassalluzzo, non-executive Chairman of our Board of Directors, would assume Mr. Smith’s authority and responsibilities until Mr. Smith’s return from medical leave. Although Mr. Smith has resumed his duties and responsibilities as of February 1, 2024, the loss of the services of our senior management, particularly Mr. Smith, or other key employees for any reason could significantly delay or prevent the achievement of our development and strategic objectives and harm our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Although certain members of our executive team have entered into agreements relating to their employment with us, most of our key personnel are not bound by employment agreements, and those with employment or retention agreements are bound only for a limited period of time and enforceability of the non-compete provisions of those employment agreements is declining. If we are unable to retain our key personnel or restrict the manner in which they may be employed by our competitors, we may be unable to successfully develop and implement our business plans, which may have an adverse effect on our business and results of operations.

If we are unable to successfully maintain a relevant experience for our customers, our results of operations could be adversely affected.

With the increasing use of digital technology to shop in our retail stores and online, we rely on our omni-channel capabilities to provide a seamless shopping experience to our customers and to keep pace with new developments by our competitors. If we are unable to attract and retain team members or contract third parties with the specialized skills needed to support our omni-channel platforms or are unable to implement improvements to our customer-facing technology in a timely manner, our ability to compete and our results of operations could be adversely affected. In addition, if our website and our other customer-facing technology systems do not function as designed, the customer experience could be negatively affected, resulting in a reduction of the amount of traffic in our stores, a loss of customer confidence and satisfaction, and lost sales, which could adversely affect our reputation and results of operations.

Moreover, changes in customer preferences have reduced, and may continue to reduce, demand for our products and services in certain markets. If we fail to manage changes in our relationships with our long-term customers, it may have an adverse effect on our financial results.

Many end markets are experiencing changes due to technological progress, an evolving workplace and changes in customer preferences. In order to grow and remain competitive, we will need to continue to adapt to future changes in technology, enhance our existing offerings and introduce new offerings to address the changing demands of customers. If we are unable to continue to utilize new and existing technologies to adapt to new distribution methods and address changing customer preferences, our business may be adversely affected.

Technological developments and changing demands of customers may require additional investment in new equipment and technologies. We must monitor changes in markets and develop new solutions to meet customers’ needs, otherwise we may not be able to keep or grow our customer base. The development of such solutions may be costly and there is no assurance that these solutions will be accepted by our customers. If we are unable to adapt to technological changes on a timely basis or at an acceptable cost, customers’ demand for our products and services may be adversely affected.

There can be no assurance that our customers will continue to purchase our products in the same mix or quantities or on the same terms as in the past. The loss of or disruptions related to customers may result in a reduction in sales or change in the mix of products we sell to our customers. This may adversely affect our results of operations, financial condition and cash flows. Additionally, disputes with significant suppliers, including those related to pricing or performance, may adversely affect our ability to supply products to our customers and also our results of operations, financial condition and cash flows.

We have retained responsibility for liabilities of acquired companies that may adversely affect our financial results.

OfficeMax sponsors defined benefit pension plans covering certain terminated employees, vested employees, retirees, and some active employees (the “Pension Plans”). The Pension Plans are frozen and do not allow new entrants; however, they are under-funded, and we may be required to make contributions in subsequent years in order to maintain required funding levels. Required future contributions could have an adverse impact on our cash flows and our financial results. Additional future contributions to the Pension Plans, financial market performance and Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) funding requirements could materially change these expected payments.

As part of the sale of our business in Europe, we have retained responsibility for the defined benefit plan covering certain employees in the United Kingdom. In July 2023, in accordance with applicable UK pension regulations, Trustees of the UK pension plan entered into an agreement with an insurer for the bulk annuity purchase of the plan, covering 100% of the plan’s members. This agreement, or buy-in, resulted in an exchange of plan assets for an annuity that covers the plan’s future projected benefit obligations. The benefit obligation was not transferred to the insurer, and we remain responsible for paying pension benefits until a buy-out of the plan is completed, which is expected to occur in 2025. However, should an unexpected issue arise, or the buy-out cannot be completed, there could be consequences which adversely impact our results of operations, financial position and cash flows. In addition, as part of the European business sale transaction, the purchaser shall indemnify and hold us harmless in connection with any guarantees in place as of September 23, 2016, and given by us in respect of the liabilities or obligations of the European business. Further, if the purchaser wishes to terminate any such guarantee or cease to comply with any underlying obligation which is subject to such a guarantee, the purchaser shall obtain an unconditional and irrevocable release of the guarantee. However, we are contingently liable in the event of a breach by the purchaser of any such obligation.

In connection with OfficeMax’s sale of its paper, forest products and timberland assets in 2004, OfficeMax agreed to assume responsibility for certain liabilities of the businesses sold. These obligations include liabilities related to environmental, asbestos, health and safety, tax, litigation and employee benefit matters. Some of these retained liabilities could turn out to be significant, which could have an adverse effect on our results of operations. Our exposure to these liabilities could harm our ability to compete with other office products distributors who would not typically be subject to similar liabilities.

We have incurred significant impairment charges and we continue to incur impairment charges.

We regularly assess past performance and make estimates and projections of future performance at an individual store and reporting unit level. Reduced sales, our shift in strategy to be less price promotional, as well as competitive factors and changes in consumer spending habits resulted in a downward adjustment of anticipated future cash flows for the individual retail stores that resulted in the impairment. We continue to foresee challenges in the market and economy that could adversely impact our operations. To the extent that forward-looking sales and operating assumptions are not achieved and are subsequently reduced, or if we implement an aggressive store downsizing program in the future, additional impairment charges may result. We have also recognized impairment charges on retail store related assets, including operating lease right-of-use (“ROU”) assets, that were deemed unrecoverable based on prior restructuring programs, including the current Maximize B2B program and a goodwill impairment in our Varis Division. In addition, asset impairments may be recognized based on future decisions and conditions as we continually evaluate the performance of our business units.

Changes in the numerous variables associated with the judgments, assumptions and estimates we make, in assessing the appropriate valuation of our goodwill and other intangible assets of our reporting units, including changes resulting from macroeconomic, or disposition of components within reporting units, could in the future require a reduction of goodwill and recognition of related non-cash impairment charges. If we were required to further impair our store assets, our goodwill or intangible assets of our reporting units, it could have a material adverse effect on our business and results of operations.

In addition, if we experience a decline in our market capitalization in the future, and if the decline becomes sustained or future declines in macroeconomic factors or business conditions occur, we could incur impairment charges in future periods.

Our failure to effectively manage our real estate portfolio may negatively impact our operating results.

Effective management of our real estate portfolio is critical to our omni-channel strategy. Most of our properties are subject to long-term leases. As such, it is essential that we effectively evaluate a range of factors that may influence the success of our long-term real estate strategy. Such factors include but are not limited to:

The consequences for failure to effectively evaluate these factors or negotiate appropriate terms or anticipate changes could include:

These consequences could have a materially adverse impact on our profitability, cash flows and liquidity.

For leased property, the financial impact of exiting a location varies greatly depending on, among other factors, the terms of the lease, the condition of the local real estate market, demand for the specific property, our relationship with the landlord and the availability of potential sub-lease tenants. It is difficult for us to influence some of these factors, and the costs of exiting a property can be significant. In addition to rent, we are still responsible for the maintenance, taxes, insurance and common area maintenance charges for vacant properties until the lease commitment expires or is terminated. Similarly, when we enter into a contract with a tenant to sub-lease property, we usually retain our obligations as the master lessor. This leaves us at risk for any remaining liability in the event of default by the sub-lease tenant.

We do a significant amount of business with government entities, various purchasing consortiums, and through sole- or limited- source distribution arrangements, and loss of this business could negatively impact our results.

One of our largest customer groups consists of various governmental entities, government agencies and non-profit organizations, such as purchasing consortiums. Contracting with U.S. state and local governments is highly competitive and complex, subject to federal and state procurement laws, requires more restrictive contract terms and compliance measures, and can be expensive and time-consuming. Violations of these laws and regulations and/or inadvertent non-compliance with complex contractual terms or disagreements regarding interpretations of those terms could result in liabilities, fines, criminal sanctions, the inability to participate in existing or future government contracting and other administrative sanctions. Any such penalties could result in damage to the Company’s reputation, increased costs of compliance and/or remediation and could adversely affect the Company’s financial condition and results of operations. Moreover, bidding on government contracts often requires that we incur significant upfront time and expense without any assurance that we will win a contract. Our ability to compete successfully for and retain business with federal, state and local governments is highly dependent on cost-effective performance. Our business with governmental entities and agencies is also sensitive to changes in national and international priorities and their respective budgets, which in the current economy continue to decrease.

We also service a substantial amount of business through agreements with purchasing consortiums and other sole- or limited-source distribution arrangements. If we are unsuccessful in retaining these customers, or if there is a significant reduction in sales under any of these arrangements, it could adversely impact our business and results of operations.

Failure to maintain our reputation and brand at a high level, may adversely impact our financial performance.

Effective marketing efforts play a crucial role in maintaining our reputation to attract new customers and retain existing customers. Failure to execute effective marketing efforts or misjudgment of consumer responses to our existing or future promotional activities, may adversely impact our financial performance.

Failure to detect, prevent, or mitigate issues that might give rise to reputational risk or failure to adequately address negative publicity or perceptions could adversely impact our reputation, business, results of operations, and financial condition. Issues that might pose a reputational risk include an inability to achieve our omni-channel goals, including providing an e-commerce and delivery experience that meets the expectations of consumers; failure of our cybersecurity measures to protect against data breaches; product liability and product recalls; social media activity; perception of engaging in politicized or controversial issues; failure to comply with applicable laws and regulations; and any of the other risks enumerated in these risk factors. In addition, information concerning us, whether or not true, may be instantly and easily posted on social media platforms at any time, which information may be adverse to our reputation or brand. The harm may be immediate without affording us an opportunity for redress or correction. If our reputation or brand is damaged, our customers may refuse to continue shopping with us, potential employees may be unwilling to work for us, business partners may be discouraged from seeking future business dealings with us and, as a result, our operations and financial results may suffer.

Veyer and Varis, as developing business units, have different branding and reputational requirements. The failure to identify and execute effective marketing and branding could adversely affect a new business disproportionately compared to well-known brands in the ability to attract new customers and in turn, drive revenue.

Our exclusive brand products are subject to several additional product, supply chain and legal risks that could affect our operating results.

We sell a substantial number of products under our own brands including Office Depot®, OfficeMax® and other proprietary brands where we are the importer of record. While we have focused on the quality of our proprietary branded products, we rely on third parties to manufacture these products. Such third-party manufacturers may prove to be unreliable, the quality of our globally sourced products may vary from our expectations and standards, such products may not meet applicable regulatory requirements which may require us to recall those products, or such products may infringe upon the intellectual property rights of third parties. The manufacturers and related factories of these products may fail to comply with global social responsibility regulations. As the importer of record and private labeler, there are increased regulatory reporting and compliance risks, including customs compliance, global social responsibilities, country of origin, chemical compliance, product liability, advertising and labeling. Though we seek indemnities from the manufacturers of these products, the uncertainty of realization of any such indemnity and the lack of understanding of U.S. laws in certain foreign jurisdictions make it more likely that we may have to respond to claims or complaints from our customers.

Our business may be adversely affected by the actions of and risks related to the activities of our third-party vendors.

We purchase products for resale under credit arrangements with our vendors and have been able to negotiate payment terms that are approximately equal in length to the time it takes to sell the vendor’s products. When the global economy is experiencing weakness as it has in the past, vendors may seek credit insurance to protect against non-payment of amounts due to them. If we experience declining operating performance and severe liquidity challenges, vendors may demand that we accelerate our payment for their products or require cash on delivery, which could have an adverse impact on our operating cash flow and result in severe stress on our liquidity. Borrowings under our existing credit facility could reach maximum levels under such circumstances, causing us to seek alternative liquidity measures, but we may not be able to meet our obligations as they become due until we secure such alternative measures.

We use and resell many manufacturers’ branded items and services. We rely on key vendors who may have a large market share of the categories of products and services that we resell in order to provide best in class solutions to our customers. As a result, we are dependent on the availability and pricing of key products and services, including but not limited to ink, toner, paper and technology products and key vendors could change their business strategies or models and no longer offer products or services of value to our customers. As a reseller, we cannot control the supply, design, function, cost or vendor-required conditions of sale of many of the products we offer for sale. Disruptions in the availability of these products or the products and services we provide to our customers coupled with our inability to quickly pivot and find new products and services to our portfolio of offerings may adversely affect our sales and result in customer dissatisfaction. Further, we cannot control the cost of manufacturers’ products, and cost increases must either be passed along to our customers or will result in erosion of our earnings.

Failure to identify desirable products and make them available to our customers when desired and at attractive prices could have an adverse effect on our business and our results of operations. In addition, a material interruption in service by the carriers that ship goods within our supply chain may adversely affect our sales. Many of our vendors are small or medium-sized businesses which are impacted by current macroeconomic conditions, both in the U.S., Asia and other locations. We may have no warning before a vendor fails, which may have an adverse effect on our business and results of operations.

We also engage key third-party business partners to support various functions of our business, including but not limited to, information technology, web hosting and cloud-based services, human resource operations, customer loyalty programs, gift cards, customer warranty, delivery and installation, technical support, transportation and insurance programs. Any material disruption in our relationship with key third-party business partners or any disruption in the services or systems provided or managed by third parties, including as a result of denial-of-service, ransomware or other cyber attacks, could impact our revenues and cost structure and hinder our operations, particularly if a disruption occurs during peak revenue periods.

Product safety and quality concerns could have a material adverse impact on our revenue and profitability.

If the products we sell fail to meet applicable safety standards or our customers’ expectations regarding safety and quality, we could be exposed to increased legal risk and our reputation may be damaged. Failure to take appropriate actions in relation to product recalls could lead to breaches in laws and regulations and leave us susceptible to government enforcement actions or private litigation. Recalls of products, particularly when combined with lack of available alternatives or our difficulty in sourcing sufficient volumes of replacement products, could also have a material adverse impact on our revenue and profitability.

Disruption of global sourcing activities, evolving foreign trade policy (including tariffs imposed on certain foreign made goods) could negatively impact the cost and availability of our products and services.

Economic and civil unrest in areas of the world where we source products and services, as well as shipping and dockage issues, could adversely impact the availability or cost of our products and services, or both. Most of our goods imported to the U.S. arrive from Asia through ports located on the U.S. west coast and we are therefore subject to potential disruption due to labor unrest, security issues or natural disasters affecting any or all of these ports. In addition, we purchase and source products from a wide variety of suppliers, including from suppliers overseas, particularly in China where we maintain a global sourcing office to facilitate product sourcing. Diplomatic tensions between China and the U.S. and developments in Hong Kong and Taiwan, alongside other potential areas of tension, may affect us by creating regulatory, reputational and market risks. These and any future measures and countermeasures that may be taken by the U.S. or China may increase our cost of goods sold or reduce the supply of the products available to us. There is no assurance that any such increased costs could be passed on to our customers, or that we could find alternative products from other sources at comparable prices. To the extent that we are subject to more challenging regulatory environments and enhanced legal and regulatory requirements, such exposure could have a material adverse effect on our business, including the added cost of increased compliance measures that we may determine to be necessary.

In light of the trade tensions between the U.S. and China, we have incurred incremental costs related to trade tariffs on inventory we purchase from China, but such costs have not had a material impact on our results of operations. We continue to monitor and evaluate the potential impact of the effective and proposed tariffs as well as other recent changes in foreign trade policy on our supply chain, costs, sales and profitability and have implemented strategies to mitigate such impact, including changes to our contracting model, alternative sourcing strategies and selective price increase pass-through efforts. If any of these events continue as described, they could disrupt the movement of products through our supply chain or increase their cost. In addition, we are in the process of diversifying our sourcing options outside Asia and executing this diversification plan introduces risk, including cybersecurity, global social responsibilities, product quality assurance and compliance, operations, and logistics. Further, a larger scale sourcing shift will be time-consuming and difficult or impracticable for many products and may result in an increase in our manufacturing costs. Substantial regulatory uncertainty exists regarding foreign trade and trade policy, both in the United States and abroad. The adoption and expansion of trade restrictions, retaliatory tariffs, or other governmental action related to tariffs or international trade agreements or policies has the potential to adversely impact demand for our products, our costs, our customers, our suppliers, and/or the U.S. economy, which in turn could adversely impact our results of operations and business.

Risks Related to Our Indebtedness and Liquidity

Covenants in our credit facility could adversely impact our operations.

Our asset-based credit facility contains a fixed charge coverage ratio covenant that is operative only when borrowing availability is below 10% of the Borrowing Base (as defined in Note 9. “Debt” in Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements) or prior to a restricted transaction, such as incurring additional indebtedness, acquisitions, dispositions, dividends, or share repurchases if we do not have the required liquidity. The agreement governing our credit facility (the “Third Amended Credit Agreement” as defined in Note 9. “Debt” in Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements) also contains representations, warranties, affirmative and negative covenants, and default provisions. A breach of any of these covenants could result in a default under our Third Amended Credit Agreement. Upon the occurrence of an event of default under our Third Amended Credit Agreement, the lenders could elect to declare all amounts outstanding to be immediately due and payable and terminate all commitments to extend further credit. If the lenders were to accelerate the repayment of borrowings, we may not have sufficient assets to repay our asset-based credit facility and our other indebtedness. Also, should there be an event of default, or a need to obtain waivers following an event of default, we may be subject to higher borrowing costs and/or more restrictive covenants in future periods. Acceleration of our obligations under our credit facilities would permit the holders of our other material debt to accelerate their obligations. We were in compliance with all applicable covenants as of December 30, 2023.

Risks Related to Legal and Regulatory Compliance

We are subject to legal proceedings and legal compliance risks.

We are involved in various legal proceedings, which from time to time may involve class action lawsuits, state and federal governmental inquiries, audits and investigations, environmental matters, employment, tort, state false claims act, data and privacy laws, consumer litigation and intellectual property litigation. At times, such matters may involve directors and/or executive officers. Additionally, the regulatory environment is more active. Certain of these legal proceedings, including government investigations, may be a significant distraction to management and could expose our Company to significant liability, including settlement expenses, damages, fines, penalties, attorneys’ fees and costs, and non-monetary sanctions, including suspensions and debarments from doing business with certain government agencies, any of which could have a material adverse effect on our business and results of operations. For a description of our legal proceedings, refer to Note 15. “Contingencies” in Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements.

Legal, regulatory or market measures to address climate change, could adversely affect our business, financial condition or results of operations.

There has been increased focus by federal, international, state and local regulatory and legislative bodies to combat and/or limit the effects of climate change through a variety of means, including regulating greenhouse gas (“GHG”) emissions (and the establishment of enhanced internal processes or systems to track them), policies mandating or promoting the use of renewable or zero-carbon energy and sustainability initiatives, and additional taxes on fuel and energy. If legislation or regulations are enacted or promulgated in the United States or in any other jurisdiction in which we do business that impose more stringent restrictions and requirements than our current legal or regulatory obligations, we and companies in our supply chain may experience increased compliance burdens and costs to meet the regulatory obligations, which could cause disruption in the sourcing, manufacturing and distribution of our products and adversely affect our business, financial condition or results of operations.

Additionally, the impacts of climate change and chemical compliance initiatives by our corporate and public sector customers may further influence customer preferences and requirements, such as increased demand for products with lower environmental footprints, compliance with customers’ restricted chemical lists and/or beyond restricted substances lists for products they are purchasing, and for companies to produce and demonstrate progress against GHG reduction plans and targets. Failure to provide climate-friendly products, demonstrate GHG reductions, and/or comply with B2B customers’ chemical compliance standards could potentially result in loss of market share.

Changes in tax laws in any of the jurisdictions in which we operate can cause fluctuations in our overall tax rate impacting our reported earnings.

Our tax rate is derived from a combination of applicable tax rates in the various domestic and international jurisdictions in which we operate. While we have disposed of the majority of our international businesses, we remain subject to international taxes as part of our existing operations. Depending upon the sources of our income, any agreements we may have with taxing authorities in various jurisdictions, and the tax filing positions we take in these jurisdictions, our overall tax rate may fluctuate significantly from other companies or even our own past tax rates. In addition, changes in applicable U.S. or foreign tax laws and regulations, including the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, or their interpretation and application, including the possibility of retroactive effect, could affect our tax expense and profitability. At any given point in time, we base our estimate of an annual effective tax rate upon a calculated mix of the tax rates applicable to us and to estimates of the amount of income likely to be generated in any given geography. The loss of or modification to one or more agreements with taxing jurisdictions, whether as a result of a third-party challenge, negotiation, or otherwise, a change in the mix of our business from year to year and from country to country, changes in rules related to accounting for income taxes, changes in tax laws in any of the multiple jurisdictions in which we operate, changes in valuation allowances, or adverse outcomes from the tax audits that regularly are in process in any of the jurisdictions in which we operate could result in substantial volatility, including an unfavorable change in our overall tax rate and/or our effective tax rate.

On August 16, 2022, the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (the “IR Act”) was signed into federal law. Effective January 1, 2023, the 1% U.S. federal excise tax included in the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 applied to certain repurchases of stock by publicly traded U.S. domestic corporations and certain U.S. domestic subsidiaries of publicly traded foreign corporations. Under the new excise tax requirements, we may be subject to the 1% excise tax (rather than our shareholders) in connection with certain of our repurchases. The foregoing would cause a reduction in our cash available on hand.

Increases in wage and benefit costs, changes in laws and other labor regulations could impact our financial results and cash flow.

Our expenses relating to employee labor, including employee health benefits, are significant. Our ability to control our employee and related labor costs is generally subject to numerous external factors, including prevailing wage rates, legislative and private sector initiatives regarding healthcare reform, and adoption of new or revised employment and labor laws and regulations. Recently, various legislative movements have sought to increase the federal minimum wage in the United States and the minimum wage in a number of individual states, some of which have been successful at the state level. As federal or state minimum wage rates increase, we may need to increase not only the wage rates of our minimum wage employees, but also the wages paid to our other employees as well. Further, should we fail to increase our wages competitively in response to increasing wage rates, the quality of our workforce could decline, causing our customer service to suffer. Any increase in the cost of our labor could have an adverse effect on our operating costs, financial condition and results of operations.

The potential for unionization has increased nationwide. Although none of our U.S.-based employees are currently covered under a collective bargaining agreement, and our management believes that our employee relations are good, our employees may elect to seek to be represented by labor unions in the future. For example, in May 2023, a union filed an election petition with the National Labor Relations Board seeking to represent certain employees at our Grand Prairie, Texas distribution center. Subsequently, the group of employees voted to not be represented by the union. Additionally, one of our competitors recently faced a union election in another state. Significant union representation would require us to negotiate wages, salaries, benefits and other terms with many of our employees collectively and could adversely affect our results of operations by significantly increasing our labor costs or otherwise restricting our ability to maximize the efficiency of our operations. In addition, our responses to any union organizing efforts or a labor dispute involving some or all of our employees may harm our reputation.

We also have employees in Canada and Asia and are required to comply with laws and regulations in those countries that may differ substantially from country to country, requiring significant management attention and cost.

Changes in the regulatory environment and violations of the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and similar worldwide anti-bribery laws may negatively impact our business.

We are subject to regulations relating to our corporate conduct and the conduct of our business, including securities laws, consumer protection laws, hazardous material regulations, trade regulations, advertising regulations, privacy and cybersecurity laws, regulations relating to climate change and chemical compliance and wage and hour regulations and anti-corruption legislation. Certain jurisdictions have taken a particularly aggressive stance with respect to such matters and have implemented new initiatives and reforms, including more stringent regulations, disclosure and compliance requirements.

The U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, the U.K. Bribery Act and similar anti-bribery laws in other jurisdictions generally prohibit companies and their intermediaries from making improper payments for the purpose of obtaining or retaining business. Recent years have seen a substantial increase in anti-bribery law enforcement activity with more frequent and aggressive investigations and enforcement proceedings by both the Department of Justice and the SEC, increased enforcement activity by non-U.S. regulators and increases in criminal and civil proceedings brought against companies and individuals. Our policies mandate compliance with all anti-bribery laws. However, we operate in certain countries that are recognized as having governmental and commercial corruption. Our internal control policies and procedures may not always protect us from reckless or criminal acts committed by our employees or third-party intermediaries. Violations of these anti-bribery laws may result in criminal or civil sanctions, which could have a material adverse effect on our business and results of operations.

Risks Related to Information Technology and Information Security

Disruptions of the computer systems we use could adversely affect our operations.

We rely heavily on computer systems to process transactions, including delivery of technology services, manage our inventory and supply-chain and to summarize and analyze our global business. In addition, when our website and our other customer-facing technology systems do not function as designed, our business could be negatively affected, resulting in a loss of customer confidence and satisfaction, and lost sales, which could adversely affect our reputation and result of operations. Various components of our information technology and computer systems, including hardware, networks, and software, are licensed to us and hosted by third-party vendors.

Our systems are subject to damage or interruption from power outages, computer and telecommunications failures, computer viruses, cyber-attack or other security breaches, catastrophic events such as fires, floods, earthquakes, tornadoes, hurricanes, acts of war or terrorism, and usage errors by our employees. We carry insurance, including cyber insurance, which we believe to be commensurate with our size and the nature of our operations and expect that a portion of these costs may be covered by insurance.

If our computer systems are damaged or cease to function properly in the future, or, if we do not replace or upgrade certain systems, we may incur substantial costs to repair or replace them and may experience an interruption of our normal business activities or loss of critical data.

We maintain and periodically upgrade many of these systems that increase productivity and efficiency. If these systems are not properly maintained or enhanced, the attention of our workforce could be diverted and our ability to provide the level of service our customers demand could be constrained for some time. Failure to make such investments could limit our ability to compete against our peers that are investing in these areas. Further, new systems might not properly integrate with existing systems. Also, once implemented, when new systems and technology do not provide the intended efficiencies or anticipated benefits, it could add costs and complications to our ongoing operations.

A breach of our information technology systems could adversely affect our reputation, business partner and customer relationships and operations and result in high costs.

Through our sales, marketing activities, and use of third-party information, we collect and store certain personally identifiable information that our customers provide to purchase products or services, enroll in promotional programs, register on our website, or otherwise communicate and interact with us. This may include, but is not limited to, names, addresses, phone numbers, driver license numbers, e-mail addresses, contact preferences, personally identifiable information stored on electronic devices, and payment account information, including credit and debit card information. We also gather and retain information about our employees in the normal course of business. We may share information about such persons with vendors that assist with certain aspects of our business. In addition, our online operations depend upon the secure transmission of confidential information over public networks, such as information permitting cashless payments. Furthermore, the integration of generative artificial intelligence (“AI”) capabilities into our business processes and systems may contribute to increased cyber risks.

We have instituted safeguards for the protection of such information and invested considerable resources, including insurance to cover cyber liabilities, in protecting our systems. These security measures may be compromised as a result of third-party security breaches, burglaries, cyber-attack, errors by our employees or the employees of third-party vendors, faulty password management, misappropriation of data by employees, vendors or unaffiliated third parties, or other irregularity, and result in persons obtaining unauthorized access to our data or accounts.

Despite instituted safeguards for the protection of such information, we cannot be certain that all of our systems and those of our vendors and unaffiliated third parties are entirely free from vulnerability to attack or compromise given that the techniques used to obtain unauthorized access, disable or degrade service, or sabotage systems change frequently.

We have experienced and we expect to continue to experience attempts to breach our systems, none of which has been material to the Company as a whole to date, and we may be unable to protect sensitive data and the integrity of our systems or to prevent fraudulent purchases.

We are also subject to data privacy and security laws and regulations, the number and complexity of which are increasing globally, and despite reasonable efforts to comply with all applicable laws and regulations, there can be no assurance that we will not be the subject of enforcement or other legal actions in the event of an incident. The rapid evolution and increased adoption of AI technologies and our obligations to comply with emerging AI laws and regulations may require us to develop additional AI-specific governance programs or negatively impact our ability to use such technologies. Moreover, an alleged or actual security breach that affects our systems or results in the unauthorized release of personally identifiable information could:

Although all of our divisions are exposed to these types of security risks, a successful cyber-attack, security breach, disruption or other incident could have a larger impact on divisions launching new product offerings by damaging reputation or brand and negatively affecting customer satisfaction and loyalty at an early stage in the business. Additionally, for divisions with newer technological offerings or new technology integrated into their operations, exposure to security risks may have a greater impact on operations.

Risks Related to Ownership of Our Securities

There can be no assurance that we will resume paying cash dividends.

Decisions regarding dividends depend on a number of factors, including general business and economic conditions, our financial condition, operating results and restrictions imposed by our debt agreements, the emergence of alternative investment or acquisition opportunities, changes in business strategy and other factors. Decisions on dividends are within the discretion of the Board of Directors. In order to preserve liquidity during the COVID-19 pandemic and in light of the uncertainties as to its duration and economic impact, in May 2020, our Board of Directors suspended the Company’s quarterly cash dividend beginning in the second quarter of 2020. Our quarterly cash dividend remains suspended and we do not anticipate declaring cash dividends in the foreseeable future. Changes in or the elimination of dividends could have an adverse effect on the price of our common stock.

Our common stock price has been and may continue to be subject to volatility, and shareholders could incur substantial losses of any investment in our common stock.

Our common stock price has experienced volatility over time and this volatility may continue, in part due to factors mentioned in this Item 1A or due to other market-driven events beyond our control. As a result of these and other factors, investors in our common stock may not be able to resell their shares at or above their original purchase price.

Our amended and restated bylaws designate the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware (the “Chancery Court”), or, if the Chancery Court does not have jurisdiction, the federal district court for the district of Delaware or other state courts located in the State of Delaware, as the sole and exclusive forum for certain types of actions and proceedings that may be initiated by our shareholders, which could discourage lawsuits against us and our directors and officers.

Pursuant to our amended and restated bylaws, unless we consent in writing to the selection of an alternative forum, the Chancery Court (or, if the Chancery Court does not have jurisdiction, the federal district court for the District of Delaware or other state courts of the State of Delaware) is the sole and exclusive forum for any shareholder (including a beneficial owner) to bring: (1) any derivative action or proceeding brought on our behalf, (2) any action asserting a claim of breach of a fiduciary duty owed by any of our current or former directors, officers or other employees to us or our shareholders, (3) any action asserting a claim arising pursuant to any provision of the Delaware General Corporation Law, our restated certificate of incorporation or amended and restated bylaws, or (4) any action asserting a claim governed by the internal affairs doctrine, except as to each of (1) through (4) above, for any claim as to which the Court of Chancery determines that there is an indispensable party not subject to the jurisdiction of the Court of Chancery (and the indispensable party does not consent to the personal jurisdiction of the Court of Chancery within ten days following such determination). This forum selection provision may limit the ability of our shareholders to bring a claim in a judicial forum that such shareholders find favorable for disputes with us or our directors or officers, which may discourage such lawsuits against us and our directors and officers.

Section 27 of the Exchange Act creates exclusive federal jurisdiction over all suits brought to enforce any duty or liability created by the Exchange Act or the rules and regulations thereunder. As a result, the exclusive forum provision will not apply to suits brought to enforce any duty or liability created by the Exchange Act or any other claim for which the federal courts have exclusive jurisdiction. In addition, Section 22 of the Securities Act creates concurrent jurisdiction for federal and state courts over all suits brought to enforce any duty or liability created by the Securities Act or the rules and regulations thereunder. As a result, the exclusive forum provision will not apply to suits brought to enforce any duty or liability created by the Securities Act or any other claim for which the federal and state courts have concurrent jurisdiction.

CYBERSECURITY

Risk Management and Strategy

The ODP Corporation maintains a comprehensive process for assessing, identifying and managing material risks from cybersecurity threats including risks relating to disruption of business operations or financial reporting systems, intellectual property theft; fraud; extortion; harm to employees or customers; damage to relationships; violation of privacy laws and other litigation and legal risk; and reputational risk; as part of our overall risk management system and processes. Cybersecurity is a critical component of our Enterprise Risk Management (“ERM”) process and we have established a cybersecurity and information security framework to help safeguard the confidentiality, integrity and access of our information assets and to ensure regulatory, contractual and operational compliance. This includes protection of customer and employee personally identifiable information (“PII”) and company confidential information.

We have a cybersecurity governance framework in place which is designed to protect information and information systems from unauthorized access, use, disclosure, disruption, modification, or destruction. We deploy a multifaceted, in-depth digital security defense program to address digital security risks and vulnerabilities, and to protect company assets. The program is led by our Chief Information Security Officer (“CISO”) and implemented by a team of trained cybersecurity professionals comprising associates and third parties that augment the team. Our cybersecurity program consists of controls designed to identify, protect against, detect, respond to and recover from information and cybersecurity incidents.

Our CISO oversees the Company’s approach to managing cybersecurity and digital risk and is supported by the Company’s C-suite, officers and other Company leaders and regularly engages with cross-functional teams including finance, compliance, legal, and internal audit at the Company. We have a cybersecurity and information security framework that includes risk assessment and mitigation through a threat intelligence-driven approach and application of controls. The framework is based on International Organization for Standardizations (“ISO”) 27001/27002 standards for general information technology controls. In addition, we utilize Center for Internet Security best practice standards, the National Institute of Standards and Technology Cyber Security Framework for measuring overall readiness to respond to cyber threats, and Sarbanes-Oxley for assessment of internal controls. We utilize policies, software, training programs and hardware solutions to protect and monitor our environment, including multifactor authentication, firewalls, intrusion detection and prevention systems, vulnerability and penetration testing and identity management systems. Our information security and privacy policies are informed by regulatory requirements and are reviewed periodically for compliance and alignment with current state and federal laws and regulations. We comply with applicable industry security standards, including the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (“PCI DSS”). As part of our cybersecurity and information security program, we regularly evaluate and audit (with internal audit) our controls and vulnerabilities. Risks are identified from various sources and we monitor our infrastructure and applications to identify evolving cyber threats, and mitigate risks. We maintain a security operations center to monitor our Security Information and Event Management system.

Additionally, we maintain a Cybersecurity Incident Response Plan, which is reviewed regularly, and provides a framework for handling and escalating cybersecurity incidents based on the severity of the incident and facilitates cross-functional coordination across the Company.

We maintain a comprehensive global training and awareness program, provide annual security awareness education and training for employees and consultants, conduct internal “phishing” testing, and publish periodic cybersecurity newsletters providing relevant information on security topics and cybersecurity policies to help our associates and contractors extend our security mission throughout their day-to-day responsibilities and to help them make sound computing decisions. We also periodically conduct simulated cybersecurity incident exercises administered by a third-party cybersecurity consultant. Additionally, we carry industry-standard cybersecurity insurance, which we believe to be commensurate with our size and the nature of our operations, and regularly review our policy and levels of coverage based on current risks.

In connection with our cybersecurity risk management processes, we incorporate internal and external expertise. For example, our CISO works in partnership with our internal audit department to review cybersecurity controls in the context of financial reporting as part of the overall internal controls process. We utilize third-party security companies to test for cyber vulnerabilities, to perform penetration tests periodically and to test incident response preparedness. Additionally, we conduct regular information technology reviews based on the SOC 2 audit framework, periodic cybersecurity “tabletop” exercises with the C-suite, the Board, and Company associates and Board cybersecurity education, all of which are administered by independent third parties. We engage outside counsel regarding cybersecurity issues such as regulatory compliance, materiality determinations, disclosure obligations and best practices for oversight, as needed. We also collaborate with our peers and partners in the areas of threat intelligence and vulnerability management.

Cybersecurity risks related to third parties are managed as part of our third-party risk management program to assess risk from material vendors and suppliers. Additionally, we have developed information security processes applicable to third parties which are incorporated into our standard form contracts.

As previously disclosed, our business strategy, results of operations and financial condition were negatively impacted by a malware incident that affected CompuCom, our previously-owned subsidiary, in March 2021. We sold our CompuCom Division through a single disposal group on December 31, 2021 and the financial impact of the malware incident was reflected within discontinued operations. For additional information, see “Risk Factors” within Other Key Information in this Annual Report.

Governance

Management

The cybersecurity risk management processes described above are managed by our CISO and a team of information security professionals. Our CISO has 9 years of experience in the role at the Company and holds a Certified Information Security Manager (“CISM”) certification. In addition, our CISO has 10+ years of experience managing secure applications that are PCI DSS compliant and protect PII via application of information security policies/standards and risk management principles, along with 10+ years producing reduced risk, SOX, PCI, CCPA and Internal Audit compliant systems through application of control frameworks and governance structures.

Our CISO reports to the Chief Technology Officer (“CTO”) who, in partnership with the Chief Information Officer (“CIO”), is responsible for informing executive leadership regarding cybersecurity. The CISO also reports to the independent Audit Committee quarterly, as described below. The CISO leads a team of trained internal cybersecurity professionals addressing digital security risks, vulnerabilities and protecting company assets.

Board of Directors

The independent Audit Committee of the Board of Directors is primarily responsible for the oversight of risks from cybersecurity and data privacy and is responsible for assessing the Company’s business risk management process and policies pursuant to the committee charter. To fulfill this responsibility, the Audit Committee receives quarterly reports about cybersecurity risks from our CISO. These reports include information regarding the implementation and administration of our cybersecurity processes, cybersecurity governance processes, status of projects relating to cybersecurity, cybersecurity matters relating to any particular products or services, summaries of any material cybersecurity threats or incidents and responses thereto, regulatory updates, updates on cybersecurity trends and the results of any assessments performed by internal stakeholders or third-party advisors.

Additionally, the Board of Directors retains responsibility for the oversight of our overall risk management systems and processes. The Board reviews the results of the annual Enterprise Risk Management (“ERM”) assessment and the mitigation of the risks identified, which includes the topic of cybersecurity. The Company’s Risk Profile (derived from ERM assessment) is monitored throughout the year, and the Board and/or Audit Committee is updated, as necessary. Additionally, our CTO and CIO provide technology updates to the full Board quarterly, including governance and risk considerations of our information security program.

PROPERTIES

As of December 30, 2023, we operated in the following locations:

STORES

Office Depot Division (United States)

The supply chain facilities which we operate in the continental United States and Puerto Rico support our ODP Business Solutions and Office Depot Divisions and the facilities in Canada support our ODP Business Solutions Division. The following table sets forth the locations of our principal supply chain facilities from continuing operations as of December 30, 2023.

DCs and Crossdock Facilities

Our principal corporate headquarters is located in Boca Raton, FL, and is in a leased facility that is approximately 284,000 square feet. This facility is considered to be in good condition, adequate for its purpose and suitably utilized according to the individual nature and requirements of the relevant operations. Although we own a small number of our retail store locations, most of our facilities are leased or subleased. Additional information regarding our operating leases and leasing arrangements is available in Note 1. “Summary of Significant Accounting Policies” and Note 10. “Leases” in Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements.

LEGAL PROCEEDINGS

For a description of our legal proceedings, refer to Note 15. “Contingencies” in Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements.

MARKET FOR REGISTRANT’S COMMON EQUITY, RELATED STOCKHOLDER MATTERS AND ISSUER PURCHASES OF EQUITY SECURITIES

Our common stock is traded on the NASDAQ Global Select Market under the ticker symbol ODP.

Holders

As of the close of business on February 21, 2024, there were 3,088 holders of record of our common stock.

Cash Dividend

We did not declare any cash dividends in 2023 and do not anticipate declaring cash dividends in the foreseeable future. Our Third Amended Credit Agreement permits restricted payments, such as dividends, but may be limited if we do not meet the required minimum liquidity or fixed charge coverage ratio requirements.

Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities

In October 2022, our Board of Directors approved a stock repurchase program of up to $1 billion, available through December 31, 2025, to replace the existing $600 million stock repurchase program effective November 3, 2022. We repurchased six million shares in 2023 for a total consideration of $298 million. Of the total shares repurchased, two million shares were purchased from HG Vora Special Opportunities Master Fund, Ltd. (“HG Vora”) for a cost of $89 million pursuant to the related stock purchase agreement that the Company entered into with HG Vora, effective March 13, 2023. As of December 30, 2023, $552 million remains available for stock repurchases under the current stock repurchase program. In February 2024, the Company’s Board of Directors approved a new stock repurchase program of up to $1 billion of its common stock, available through March 31, 2027, which replaced the then existing $1 billion stock repurchase program. Subsequent to the end of fiscal 2023 and through February 21, 2024, we bought back 332 thousand shares of our common stock at a cost of $17 million.

The authorization may be suspended or discontinued at any time. The stock repurchase authorization permits us to repurchase stock from time-to-time through a combination of open market repurchases, privately negotiated transactions, 10b5-1 trading plans, accelerated stock repurchase transactions and/or other derivative transactions. The exact number and timing of stock repurchases will depend on market conditions and other factors and will be funded through available cash balances. Our Third Amended Credit Agreement permits restricted payments, such as common stock repurchases, but may be limited if we do not meet the required minimum liquidity or fixed charge coverage ratio requirements. The authorized amount under the stock repurchase program excludes fees, commissions, taxes or other expenses.

The following table summarizes our common stock repurchases during the fourth quarter of 2023.

The ODP Corporation Stock Comparative Performance Graph

The information contained in The ODP Corporation Comparative Performance Graph section shall not be deemed to be filed as part of this Annual Report and does not constitute soliciting material and should not be deemed filed or incorporated by reference into any other filing of the Company under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the Exchange Act, except to the extent we specifically incorporate the graph by reference.

The following graph compares the five-year cumulative total shareholder return on our common stock with the cumulative total returns of the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index (“S&P 500”) and the Standard & Poor’s Composite 1500 Specialty Retail Index (“S&P Composite 1500 Specialty Retail”) of which we are a component of each Index.

The graph assumes an investment of $100 at the close of trading on December 29, 2018, the last trading day of fiscal year 2018, in our common stock, the S&P 500 and the S&P Composite 1500 Specialty Retail.

COMPARISON OF 5 YEAR CUMULATIVE TOTAL RETURN*

Among The ODP Corporation, the S&P 500 Index and the S&P Composite 1500 Specialty Retail Index

*$100 invested on 12/29/18 in stock or in index, including reinvestment of dividends. Indexes calculated on month-end basis.

Copyright© 2024 Standard & Poor’s, a division of S&P Global. All rights reserved

The stock price performance included in this graph is not necessarily indicative of future stock price performance.

MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations is intended to provide information to assist readers in better understanding and evaluating our financial condition and results of operations. We recommend reading this MD&A in conjunction with our Consolidated Financial Statements and Notes thereto included in this Annual Report.

OVERVIEW

THE COMPANY

We are a leading provider of products, services and technology solutions through an integrated business-to-business (“B2B”) distribution platform and omni-channel presence, which includes supply chain and distribution operations, dedicated sales professionals, a B2B digital procurement solution, online presence, and a network of Office Depot and OfficeMax retail stores. Through our operating companies ODP Business Solutions, LLC; Office Depot, LLC; Veyer, LLC; and Varis, Inc., we empower every business, professional, and consumer to achieve more every day.

As of December 30, 2023, our operations are organized into four reportable segments (or “Divisions”), as described below. We sold our CompuCom Division through a single disposal group on December 31, 2021. Accordingly, that business is presented as discontinued operations.

ODP Business Solutions Division – Our leading B2B distribution solutions provider serving small, medium and enterprise level companies, including those in the public and education sectors. This segment operates in the United States, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Canada. The ODP Business Solutions Division sells nationally branded, as well as our private branded, office supply and adjacency products and services to customers, who are served through a dedicated sales force, catalogs, telesales, and electronically through our Internet websites. Adjacency products and services include cleaning, janitorial, and breakroom supplies, office furniture, technology products, and copy and print services. This segment also includes our Federation entities, which are over 20 regional office supply distribution businesses acquired by us as part of our transformation to expand our reach and distribution network into geographic areas that were previously underserved, and which continue to operate under their own brand names. The acquisition of these businesses has allowed for an effective and accretive means to expand our distribution reach, target new business customers and grow our offerings beyond traditional office supplies.

Office Depot Division – Our leading provider of retail consumer and small business products and services distributed through a fully integrated omni-channel platform of 916 Office Depot and OfficeMax retail locations in the United States, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, and an eCommerce presence (www.officedepot.com). Our Office Depot Division sells office supplies, technology products and solutions, business machines and related supplies, cleaning, breakroom and facilities products, personal protective equipment, and office furniture as well as offering business services including copying, printing, digital imaging, mailing, shipping and technology support services. In addition, the print needs for retail and business customers are facilitated through our regional print production centers.

Veyer Division – Our supply chain, distribution, procurement and global sourcing operation, which specializes in B2B and consumer business service delivery, with core competencies in distribution, fulfillment, transportation, global sourcing and purchasing. The Veyer Division’s customers include our Office Depot Division and ODP Business Solutions Division, as well as third-party customers. The Veyer Division also includes the Company’s global sourcing operations in Asia.

Varis Division – Our tech-enabled B2B indirect procurement marketplace, which provides a seamless way for buyers and suppliers to transact through the platform’s consumer-like buying experience, advanced spend management tools, network of suppliers, and technology capabilities. In connection with our development efforts of this Division, we acquired BuyerQuest Holdings, Inc. (“BuyerQuest”) in 2021, a software as a service eProcurement platform company. BuyerQuest’s operating results are included in our Varis Division. The Varis Division currently serves enterprise businesses and provides its services to middle- and small-sized businesses. It is focused on filling the growing demand for a B2B centric digital commerce platform that is modern, trusted, and provides the procurement controls and visibility businesses require to operate.

ACQUISITIONS

We have been acquiring profitable regional office supply distribution businesses to expand our reach and distribution network into geographic areas that were previously underserved. In 2023, we acquired two small independent regional office supply distribution businesses in the U.S. Our strategy has been to acquire businesses with purchase prices ranging from $5 million to $15 million, which are individually insignificant to us. The businesses acquired were consistent with acquisitions of similar sized businesses in the past and the acquisitions were primarily funded with cash on hand. The operating results of these small office supply businesses are combined with our operating results subsequent to their purchase dates, and are included in our ODP Business Solutions Division. Refer to Note 2. “Acquisitions” in Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements for additional information.

DISPOSITIONS

The sale of CompuCom, which represented our former CompuCom Division, was completed on December 31, 2021. The transaction was structured and accounted for as an equity sale. The related Securities Purchase Agreement (“SPA”) provides for consideration consisting of a cash purchase price equal to $125 million (subject to customary adjustments, including cash, debt and working capital), an interest-bearing promissory note in the amount of $55 million, and a holding fee (“earn-out”) provision providing for payments of up to $125 million in certain circumstances. The promissory note accrues interest at six percent per annum, payable on a quarterly basis in cash or in-kind, and is due in full on June 30, 2027. Under the earn-out provision, if the purchaser receives dividends or sale proceeds from the CompuCom business equal to (i) three times its initial capital investment in the CompuCom business plus (ii) 15% per annum on subsequent capital investments, the Company will be entitled to 50% of any subsequent dividends or sale proceeds up to and until the Company has received an aggregate of $125 million. The Company provided certain transitional services to the purchaser for a period of three to twelve months under a separate agreement after closing. The SPA contains customary warranties of the Company and the purchaser.

In February 2023, the Company and the purchaser reached a settlement on the cash, debt and working capital adjustments, and amended the promissory note which increased its principal balance to $59 million. The sale of CompuCom represented a strategic shift that had a major impact on our operations and financial results. Accordingly, the operating results and cash flows are classified as discontinued operations for all periods presented. Refer to Note 16. “Discontinued Operations” in Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements for additional information.

RECENT GLOBAL EVENTS

We are closely monitoring the unfolding events due to the Russia-Ukraine conflict and the conflict in the Middle East, and their regional and global ramifications. We do not have operations in Ukraine, Russia or the Middle East, and our supply chain has not been impacted as of the date of this report. While we do have certain vendors that are based in Ukraine, we have not experienced an impact as a result of the conflict. Other impacts due to this rapidly evolving situation are currently unknown and the broader economic impacts could potentially subject our business to materially adverse consequences should the situation escalate beyond its current scope.

CONSOLIDATED RESULTS OF CONTINUING OPERATIONS AND LIQUIDITY

The following summarizes the more significant factors impacting our operating results for the 52-week period ended December 30, 2023 (also referred to as “2023”) and the 53-week period ended December 31, 2022 (also referred to as “2022”) as well as our liquidity in 2023 and 2022. We have omitted discussion of 2021 results where it would be redundant to the discussion previously included in MD&A of our 2022 Annual Report on Form 10-K. Prior year amounts have been recast to conform to the current presentation of our reportable segments. In addition, management of the Company also changed how it analyzes these businesses, which resulted in the inclusion of certain corporate costs, mainly payroll related, previously excluded from segment profitability measures. The changes to our reportable segments did not impact our Consolidated Financial Statements. These changes also have no impact on previously reported Consolidated Balance Sheets, Statements of Operations, Statements of Comprehensive Income, Statements of Stockholders’ Equity, or Statements of Cash Flows.

Our consolidated sales were $660 million, or 8%, lower in 2023 compared to 2022. Sales in our ODP Business Solutions Division decreased $101 million, or 3%, as compared to 2022. This included the unfavorable impact from the 53rd week in 2022 not recurring in 2023, which had sales of $58 million. The decrease in sales in our ODP Business Solutions Division was across a majority of its product categories, primarily in personal protective equipment and technology, and was driven by lower demand from business-to-business customers, due to reduced spending. Sales in our Office Depot Division decreased $567 million, or 13%, as compared to the same period in the prior year. This included the unfavorable impact from the 53rd week in 2022 not recurring in 2023, which had sales of $70 million. The decrease in sales in our Office Depot Division was mainly a result of planned store closures, lower demand, and lower average order values at our retail stores and on our eCommerce platform. The sales decline was across the majority of Office Depot Division’s product categories, except copy and print. The demand for these categories was impacted by reduced spending of our customers, including during the competitive back-to-school season in the third quarter of 2023. Our Veyer Division sales increased $7 million, or 25%, as a result of increases in supply chain services provided to third parties. The contribution of our Varis Division to consolidated sales was not material.