Brussels, 10/02/2016 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday 10 February, the European Commission gave its authorisation, at the end of in-depth investigation, to the acquisition of the American office supplies distributor Office Depot by its competitor Staples, subject to the sale of Office Depot's contract distribution business in Europe and entire business in Sweden.
The office supplies are sold through a number of sales channels such as wholesale, contract sales and online sales. The Commission's investigation focused on the effects of the transaction in the international contract sales channel as well as in the national contract sales channel in the Netherlands and Sweden. This showed that only Staples, Office Depot and Lyreco were capable of entering into international supply contracts for large business customers in Europe, since they are present in several countries and can fulfil international orders.
The merger as notified would have greatly reduced competition on what is already a concentrated market for international office supply contracts. The Commission came to the same conclusions for the distribution of traditional office supplies as a whole and for the distribution of paper products only.
The Commission also took the view that the transaction would have hampered competition on the market for national contracts with large companies in the Netherlands and Sweden, and on the wholesale market for office products in Sweden. These markets proved to be particularly concentrated and the other suppliers have little presence on them. The commitments answer the Commission's concerns. Staples will not be permitted to complete the acquisition of Office Depot until the sale to an appropriate purchaser has been assessed and authorised by the Commission. (Original version in French by Elodie Lamer)