Washington, Others, Oppose Staples Deal

Staples Inc.’s proposed purchase of rival Office Depot Inc. would hurt competition and result in higher consumer prices, said antitrust officials in the state of Washington, New York, California and four others in a court filing made Friday.

A confidential court filing was made Friday in support of the Federal Trade Commission’s antitrust suit against the companies’ merger. The other states involved in the filing are Pennsylvania, Ohio, Illinois and North Carolina.

The filing is made as a federal judge in Washington considers whether to grant the FTC’s request for a preliminary injunction blocking the merger until an full-scale anti-trust trial can be held.

Company officials couldn’t be reached for immediate comment.

U.S. District Judge Thomas Hogan held a five-day hearing earlier this month on the injunction request, and Friday was the deadline to file posttrial comments.

“Office-supply superstores are an important source of office products for many New York consumers and small businesses,” said New York Attorney General Dennis Vacco. “The merger, if allowed to go forward, will eliminate competition and result in higher prices and less office superstore expansion in New York.”

Higher consumer prices and less competition have been the crux of the FTC’s case against the merger, which would combine two of the nation’s three office-supply superstore chains. The resulting company would have more than 1,100 stores nationwide and $10 billion in annual revenue.

State antitrust officials said they’re filing the brief instead of interceding in the lawsuit.

“It’s a little too late to come in and file a lawsuit or become parties at this point,” said Jim Donohue, acting chief of antitrust for the Pennsylvania attorney general’s office.

The states had tried to intercede in the case earlier, requesting in April that the companies provide them with the same information that was given to the FTC during it’s seven-month review of the merger. But Hogan denied the request.