Staples Inc. (SPLS), a month after activist shareholder
Starboard Value LP revealed a 6% stake, announced changes to its
board and said Chief Executive Ron Sargent turned down a raise to
his base salary.
The office-products retailer said its board nominated Google
Inc. (GOOGL) executive Paul-Henri Ferrand to serve as director.
Staples added that lead independent director Robert C. Nakasone
plans to retire at the end of his term this year.
In December, Starboard announced its Staples stake and boosted
its position in rival Office Depot Inc. to about 10%. The moves
raised questions about the potential for a combination of the
office-supply retailers as Starboard previously had a role in the
merger of Office Depot and OfficeMax.
Staples on Wednesday said Mr. Sargent turned down a 2.5% raise
to his base salary in 2014. The raise would have been $31,230,
based on his base salary of nearly $1.25 million in 2013. He also
eliminated a tax-gross up provision in his existing severance
agreement.
Meanwhile, the retailer plans to appoint an independent chairman
upon the succession of Mr. Sargent, its current chairman. In a news
release, Staples said the plan follows feedback from shareholders,
which the company didn't identify. Staples didn't provide a time
table for any such change.
The board also intends to have Robert E. Sulentic serve as lead
independent director when Mr. Nakasone retires. Mr. Sulentic, CEO
of CBRE Group Inc. (CBG), joined Staples' board in 2007 and is
chair of its audit committee.
Mr. Ferrand is vice president of Google's U.S. sales and
operations. His previous experience includes leading Dell's
business-to-business and consumer segments. Mr. Ferrand would bring
experience in ecommerce and technology to the board as the retailer
aims to build up its delivery businesses, according to Vijay
Vishwanath, chair of the board's nominating and corporate
governance committee.
Write to Tess Stynes at tess.stynes@wsj.com
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