Deals
Staples May Be Winner in Office Depot-OfficeMax Merger
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When two companies merge to take on a market leader, the big kid on the block often suffers.
Yet Staples Inc. may get stronger -- at least for a while - - if Office Depot Inc. and OfficeMax Inc. get married as planned. The companies, respectively the second- and third-largest U.S. office-supply chains after Staples, agreed to combine in a stock swap today that values OfficeMax at $1.17 billion. David Balto, an antitrust attorney in Washington, has said the deal may be challenged by the Federal Trade Commission.