STAPLES, OFFICE DEPOT TO SELL STORES TO RIVAL.Byline: Richard Lorant Associated Press Associated Press: see news agency. Associated Press (AP) Cooperative news agency, the oldest and largest in the U.S. and long the largest in the world. In a deal likely to win over government monopoly In economics, government monopoly (or public monopoly) is a form of coercive monopoly in which a government agency is the sole provider of a particular good or service and competition is prohibited by law. regulators, office supply retailers Staples and Office Depot Office Depot (NYSE: ODP) is one of the world's leading suppliers of office products and services. The Company's selection of brand name office supplies includes business machines, computers, computer software and office furniture, while its business services encompass copying, agreed Wednesday to sell 63 stores to their biggest competitor. The $108.75 million cash deal will expand OfficeMax Inc. into new cities and is intended to build the chain into a bigger rival of the combined Staples and Office Depot. Two days before the deal was reached, the Federal Trade Commission said it would oppose Staples' purchase of Office Depot. The FTC FTC See Federal Trade Commission (FTC). said it was concerned that the new company would control the market for office supplies in many cities and eventually raise prices. Staples operates 61 stores in the greater Los Angeles area The Greater Los Angeles Area, or the Southland, is the agglomeration of urbanized area around the city of Los Angeles, California, United States. There are two "official" definitions—the Los Angeles metropolitan area consisting only of the Los Angeles and Orange , including seven in the San Fernando Valley San Fernando Valley Valley, southern California, U.S. Northwest of central Los Angeles, the valley is bounded by the San Gabriel, Santa Susana, and Santa Monica mountains and the Simi Hills. . Office Depot operates nine stores in the Valley. Staples spokeswoman Susan Grieb Simon said 14 stores will be sold in the Los Angeles area, split between Office Depot and Staples. She said the companies have not disclosed which specific outlets will be sold. OfficeMax currently operates 33 outlets in Los Angeles and Orange counties. By selling the stores to OfficeMax, Staples and Office Depot appeared to satisfy FTC concerns that the merger would have left some cities with a single ``superstore'' chain. Cleveland-based OfficeMax, meanwhile, gains an instant presence in markets where it hadn't been operating. |
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