We believe office products retailers, including U.S.-based Office Depot, are particularly susceptible to weakening economic conditions. We are lowering our corporate credit rating on Office Depot to 'B-' from 'B' due to our reassessment of its competitive position. The stable outlook reflects our expectation for adequate liquidity. CHICAGO (Standard&Poor's) July 6, 2011--Standard&Poor's Ratings Services said today that it lowered all of its ratings on Boca Raton, Fla.-based Office Depot Inc., including the corporate credit rating to 'B-' from 'B'. The outlook is stable. We also lowered the rating on its $400 million senior unsecured notes due 2013 to 'CCC+' (one notch below the corporate credit rating) from 'B-'. The recovery rating on the notes is '5',
