OfficeMax, Office Depot to Merge

OfficeMax and Office Depot announced plans to merge Wednesday, in a move to become more competitive in an industry that is seeing growing competition from the Internet.

The transaction is expected to close by the end of the year, although there is no word yet on what the new office solutions company will be called.

Combined, the companies reported $18 billion in revenue last year.

Store closings are likely. A recent Yahoo Finance article predicts that Office Depot will close 125 to 150 stores and Office Max 150 to 175.