FTC Imposes Conditions on Staples’ Acquisition of Essendant

Staples Inc. and Essendant Inc. have agreed to a settlement as part of the companies’ proposed $482.7 million merger, the FTC said in a statement.

• Settlement resolves FTC allegations that the deal may have harmed competition in the market for office supply products sold to small- and mid-sized businesses
• Staples to establish a firewall separating its business-to-business sales operations from Essendant’s wholesale business
  • Firewall will restrict Staples’ access to the commercially sensitive information of Essendant’s customers, the FTC says

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