FTC Rejects Staples' Offer to Divest $1.25B of Contracts

Office supply retailer Staples said the U.S. Federal Trade Commission had rejected its offer to divest up to $1.25 billion of commercial contracts to secure approval for its acquisition of smaller rival Office Depot.

Staples said on Monday it was willing to continue talks with the FTC to reach a settlement to address the antitrust regulator's concerns.

The FTC sought this month to block the deal, saying a combination of the top two office supply retailers would lead to higher prices for small commercial customers.

(Reporting by Ramkumar Iyer in Bengaluru; Editing by Kirti Pandey)