Some may have seen it coming in the light of recent moves in the retail sector.
Office stores and stationery giant Staples Inc (NYSE:SPLS) is advancing almost 2% in pre-market after news late yesterday that showed it had agreed to be bought out by a private equity firm - New York-based Sycamore Partners.
It is buying the store for $6.9bn and Staples shareholders are set to get $10.25 for each of their shares.
Staples shares are changing hands 1.91% higher in pre-market at $10.09 a share, so that's a premium.
It comes as there is a seismic shift emerging in the retail world, concerning the move towards more online buying.
The behemonth Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN), which recently announced a deal to buy Whole Foods, has become a prime competitor to Staples for its corporate customers.
This deal with Staples from New York-based Sycamore Partners will allow the former to adjust to the challenges as a private company.
Staples' sales have fallen over 6% in the last five years to $18.2bn and it has reportedly cut the number of stores it runs to around 1,600 from nearly 2,300 in 2012, according to official data.