Sale of Businesses and Assets

3 Months Ended

Apr. 29, 2017

Discontinued Operations and Disposal Groups [Abstract]

Sale of Businesses and Assets

Sale of Businesses and Assets

In the first quarter of 2017, the Company sold a controlling interest in its European operations and 100% of the shares related to its operations in Australia and New Zealand. See Note D - Discontinued Operations for additional information related to these divestitures.

Also in the first quarter of 2017, the Company sold an administrative building in Broomfield, CO for a net $16 million, and recognized a loss on sale of $1 million.

In April 2016, Staples entered into an agreement to sell substantially all of the assets and transfer certain liabilities related to Staples Printing Solutions, its commercial printing solutions business, for cash consideration of $85 million. The transaction closed on July 5, 2016. As a result of entering into this agreement, in the first quarter of 2016 the Company recognized charges of $19 million and $13 million related to impairment of goodwill and long-lived assets, respectively. The charges were included in (Loss) gain related to sale of businesses and assets, net in the condensed consolidated statement of comprehensive income.