A look back at the year Staples tried to merge with Office Depot ... again

When Staples announced that it intended to buy Boca Raton-based Office Depot in February, it was déjà vu all over again. The Framingham, Massachusetts-based firm, No. 1 in the world for office supplies, aimed to join with its smaller competitor to cut costs, just like Office Depot did with OfficeMax in 2013. Starboard Value LP, a New York-based activist investor with majority interests in both Staples and Office Depot, seemed to again play a large role in the acquisition. The company urged the…