Estimated read time: Less than a minute
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
NEW YORK (AP) - The proposed merger of Office Depot and OfficeMax has received clearance from the Federal Trade Commission, removing a key regulatory hurdle from the process.
The office supply companies agreed to a $1.2 billion combination in February. The agency said its 7-month investigation showed that the combination isn't likely to cause competitive harm.
The companies said Friday that they expect the transaction to close on Tuesday.
Office Depot Inc., based in Boca Raton, Fla., runs more than 1,300 stores worldwide. OfficeMax of Inc. of Naperville, Ill., operates more than 900 stores in the U.S. and Mexico.
They each anticipate reporting their third-quarter earnings on Monday.
Office Depot's stock gained 21 cents, or 3.8 percent, to $5.80 in morning trading. Shares of OfficeMax rose 64 cents, or 4.3 percent, to $15.62.
(Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
