In the early 1990s, we used a lot of paper and pens, and, as silly as it sounds now, fax machines for business-to-business communications. After all, the internet was only emerging, and dial-up access was slow and clunky. If you needed copy paper, fax paper, computers, pens, or back-to-school supplies (remember Trapper Keepers?), you had to physically go to a store unless you were a big company and had those things delivered by office supply companies. A few companies dominated the catalog office-supply ...

By Abigail Summerville -The ODP Corporation, which owns office supply retailers Office Depot and OfficeMax, agreed to be taken private by an affiliate of Atlas Holdings for approximately $1 billion, the companies said on Monday. Investment firm Atlas will pay $28 per share to buy ODP, which also owns ODP Business Solutions, representing a 34% premium to the company's closing share price on September 19. ODP, which is headquartered in Boca Raton, Florida, had been exploring a sale with investment bank ...