Two former OfficeMax directors to leave board

Two former OfficeMax directors say they won’t stand for re-election to the board of Boca Raton-based Office Depot.

Warren Bryant, who was Office Depot’s lead director until February, formerly was president and CEO of Longs Drug Stores Corp., a retail chain on the West Coast.

Bryant was chair of the CEO search committee that chose Gerry Smith, former chief operating officer of technology company Lenovo Group, as Office Depot’s new CEO in January. He replaced Roland Smith, who has retired.

Rakesh Gangwal, who serves on the board’s corporate governance and finance committee, formerly was president and CEO of Worldspan Technologies and U.S. Airways Group, the parent of U.S. Airways’ jet and express divisions.

Both Bryant and Gangwal had joined the board in 2013 following OfficeMax’s acquisition by Office Depot.

Office Depot still has two remaining directors from OfficeMax: V. James Marino and Francesca Ruiz de Luzuriaga.

Office Depot announced the directors’ decisions in a securities filing on Monday, saying that neither board member had any disagreement with the company.

The office supply retailer, which employs about 2,000 people in Boca Raton, has been closing both Office Depot and OfficeMax retail stores that overlap or that are not performing since the acquisition in 2013. Office Depot also tried to merge with competitor Staples but terminated its agreement in 2016 after the combination was challenged by the government in court.

Office Depot had sales of $11 billion for all of 2016, a decline of 6 percent, but yearly earnings jumped as management reported net income from continuing operations of $679 million.

PAUL SAKUMA/AP The makeup of Office Depot’s board will change as two former OfficeMax directors won’t be seeking re-election.

Gerry Smith