Impact of Staples deal on customers faces scrutiny

WASHINGTON— U.S. antitrust officials examining Staples Inc.’s planned takeover of Office Depot Inc. are zeroing in on the sale of office supplies to large corporate customers, according to three people familiar with the matter.

While consumers can pick up paper and pens anywhere, there are fewer suppliers that can serve companies that buy products in large quantities and depend on contracts that ensure steady deliveries and discounted prices.

The Federal Trade Commission, which sees numerous options for retail consumers, is scrutinizing whether the merger will harm competition for corporate clients as the review enters the final stages, said the people, who asked not to be named because they weren’t authorized to speak publicly.

“We see a lot of reasons to doubt whether there are any other competitive alternatives out there,” said Randy Stutz, the associate general counsel for the American Antitrust Institute, a Washington-based group that advocates for competition enforcement.

The Staples deal will leave just one national office-supply retailer in the U.S., which would control as much as 80 per cent of the market for large corporate accounts for high-volume products such as paper, according to an estimate by Cleveland Research Co. Staples alone serves about 65 per cent of companies on the Fortune 100 list, according to its website.