WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Federal Trade Commission said on Monday it had approved with conditions the proposed $482.7 million merger of office supply distributors Staples Inc (NASDAQ:SPLS) and Essendant Inc.
"Staples, which is owned by the private-equity firm Sycamore Partners, will establish a firewall separating Staples' business-to-business sales operations from Essendant's wholesale business," the regulator said in a statement.
"This firewall will restrict Staples' access to the commercially sensitive information of Essendant's customers."