8 States Fight Staples-Office Depot Merger

Staples Inc.’s proposed purchase of rival Office Depot Inc. would hurt competition and result in higher consumer prices, said antitrust officials in California and seven other states in a court brief. The confidential filing was made to support the Federal Trade Commission’s antitrust suit against the merger, which would combine two of the nation’s three office-supply superstore chains. The other states involved in the filing were New York, Virginia, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Illinois, Washington and North Carolina. U.S. District Judge Thomas Hogan held a five-day hearing in Washington last week on the FTC’s request for a preliminary injunction blocking the merger until a full-scale antitrust trial can be held. Friday was the deadline to file post-trial comments. Shares of Staples rose 37.5 cents to $22, and Office Depot was unchanged at $17.25.