ATLANTA (Reuters) - Office Depot Inc (ODP.N: Quote, Profile, Research), which faces a proxy fight from a shareholder seeking to remove its CEO and its former CEO from the board, on Monday urged stockholders to support its board nominees and criticized their proposed replacements.

In a letter to shareholders, Office Depot said Alan Levan, chairman of Levitt Corp LEV.N, the real estate company that is part of a group that initiated the proxy contest, has no experience in office products.

It added that Levan and his affiliates have "only a small economic interest" in Office Depot since they have publicly reported owning less than 1.1 percent of Office Depot's common stock.

Woodbridge Group, the shareholder group that includes Levan, is seeking to elect former Office Depot President Mark Begelman and former Staples Inc (SPLS.O: Quote, Profile, Research) President Martin Hanaka to replace current Office Depot Chief Executive Steve Odland and former CEO David Fuente on the board.

Office Depot's letter criticized the two Woodbridge nominees, saying both were previously considered and rejected for posts at the office supply chain.

Begelman "has a track record of failed business ventures," Office Depot said in its letter. It said Hanaka has a record of "destroying stockholder value."

The tension leading up to the April 23 annual meeting comes as Office Depot's financial results have suffered. Its shares, which were down 1 cent to $11.12 in afternoon New York Stock Exchange trading, have fallen 68 percent in the past year.

Office Depot reported a bigger-than-expected drop in fourth-quarter profit in February as slowing job growth, the soft U.S. housing market and credit market jitters led small business customers to curb spending.

Also in February, a regulatory filing disclosed that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission was investigating Office Depot over alleged phone calls made to analysts last year.

(Reporting by Karen Jacobs; editing by John Wallace)