OfficeMax CFO resigns, replacement named

Naperville-based OfficeMax Inc. announced Bruce Besanko, executive vice president and chief financial officer, will leave the company to become the executive vice president and chief financial officer of SuperValu Inc.

His last day at OfficeMax will be August 6.

Besanko has served OfficeMax as CFO since 2009, playing an instrumental role in strengthening and overseeing the company’s financial functions and processes.

“We thank Bruce for his many contributions to OfficeMax,” said Ravi Saligram, president and CEO of OfficeMax. “He has successfully guided OfficeMax’s financial functions, establishing a reputation for performance, accountability and transparency. As importantly, he has developed a strong and experienced leadership team who will continue leading our finance operations. We wish Bruce all the best in his new endeavors.”

Deb O’Connor, senior vice president, finance and chief accounting officer, will assume the role of interim chief financial officer, effective August 7. A five-year veteran of OfficeMax, O’Connor previously served as senior vice president and controller of the ServiceMaster Company, one of the world’s largest residential services networks.

“I am delighted to promote Deb and welcome her to our executive committee as we move through this transformative period and historic proposed merger with Office Depot,” said Saligram. “Deb brings not only broad and deep financial experience, but also a very personal and hands-on knowledge of our business, markets and most critical strategic initiatives. She is uniquely qualified to serve in this role, and I am very confident she will continue to add tremendous value to our company and our shareholders.”

The company also announced that Steve Parsons, executive vice president and chief human resources officer, will serve as co-leader of the merger integration planning process along with Mike Newman, executive vice president and chief financial officer of Office Depot, as the two companies prepare for a merger later this year. Prior to joining OfficeMax, Parsons has been involved in integration planning for mergers of varying complexity and scale, up to and including multi-billion-dollar transactions. Ravi Saligram, President and CEO of OfficeMax, and Neil Austrian, Chairman and CEO of Office Depot, will continue to provide overall sponsorship and stewardship of the integration planning process.