The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has delayed its decision on a proposed Staples (SLPS) and Office Depot (ODP) merger to December.
Staples and Office Depot agreed to the delay and the FTC will make its decision on the merger by Dec. 8. This delay will give the government agency more time to look over the deal, which will drop the number of major office supplies retailers in the United States down to one, reports The Wall Street Journal.
Office Depot and Staples announced that they were planning to merge in February of this year. The deal will have SPLS paying $6.3 billion for ODP. Office Depot just acquired OfficeMax back in 2013 and knocked the number of large office supplies retailers in the U.S. down to two when it did, WSJ notes.
The fact that the FTC has delayed its decision on the merger of Office Depot and Staples could be a positive sign for the deal. Analysts believe that this may mean the FTC could approve the deal because it didn’t just shoot it down, reports Reuters.
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