CNBC: Starboard's Smith says Staples-Office Depot deal to go through

[April 14, 2015]  NEW YORK (Reuters) - Activist investor Jeffrey Smith, head of Starboard Value LP, said Staples Inc's deal to buy Office Depot Inc <ODP.O> would likely be approved by regulators.

"We believe that it's likely that it goes through," Smith told cable television network CNBC. Starboard had a 4.5 percent ownership stake in Staples as of March and boosted its holdings in Office Depot to nearly 10 percent in December.

Smith, whose firm is also a Yahoo Inc  shareholder, said a merger between the company and AOL Inc still had benefits but that it would make more sense after Yahoo finished spinning off its stake in Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.

(Reporting by Sam Forgione; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)

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