Biz People: Blake: Home Depot to stay public

The chairman and chief executive of Home Depot Inc said the home improvement retailer plans to remain a publicly owned company.

"We're not thinking about going private," Frank Blake told a breakfast meeting of the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce. "We're very pleased with the capital structure we have."

As recently as December, some media reports speculated that private equity buyers were interested in pursuing Home Depot, which had come under pressure because of weakening profits and sales and criticism of its corporate governance policies.

Blake, named to the top job when former CEO Robert Nardelli resigned earlier this year, also said the full board of directors would attend the 2007 annual meeting on May 24 in Atlanta. Some shareholders were upset when board members skipped last year's annual meeting.

"We're going to spend the time we need to spend to address our shareholders' concerns," said Blake.

He said Home Depot's store square-footage growth would roughly match its market growth at about 5 percent.

Home Depot, under pressure as rival Lowe's Cos looks to expand to bigger US cities, Mexico and Canada, is planning to invest billions this year to recruit skilled workers and maintain older stores in a bid to win back market share.

The CEO reiterated that 2007 will be a tough year because of weakness in the US housing market.

Home sales and construction are major drivers of home improvement spending.

(China Daily 03/16/2007 page16)