NEW YORK (Standard&Poor's) Sept. 16, 2004--Standard&Poor's Ratings Services today stated that there is no impact to the ratings of Office Depot Inc. (BBB-/Stable/--) following the company's announcement that its board of directors has authorized the repurchase of up to $500 million in market value of its common stock over the next 12-24 months. Prior to this authorization, the company had authorization to repurchase up to $50 million of shares a year. Standard&Poor's believes the $400 million increase over the next two years is not significant to current ratings given the company's sizeable cash balance ($905 million at June 26, 2004) and significant generation of free operating cash flow after capital expenditures ($440 million in
