News & Events

The Federal Trade Commission unanimously approved the $1.2 billion merger of office supply superstores Office Depot, Inc. and Office Max, Inc., ending its seven-month investigation into the potential competitive effects of the deal.  Simpson Thacher successfully guided Office Depot through the process of responding to the FTC’s extensive Second Request investigation, which included presentations to the FTC’s attorney and economist staff on the competitive effects of the merger and the preparation of company executives to testify in investigational hearings.  Ultimately, the FTC agreed that the competitive landscape today for office supplies was significantly different than in 1997, when the agency successfully challenged the proposed merger of Office Depot and Staples. 

The Firm’s antitrust team was led by Kevin Arquit, who was supported by a team in Washington, D.C. and New York that included:  Michael Naughton, Paul Sirkis, Evan Cohen, Andrea Levine, Diana Wielocha, John Goheen, Andrew Winerman, Jonathan Ripa, Sara Clingan, Bill Kearney, Ken Ehrhard, Mickey Tarpinian, Michael Dabah and Sophia Isani.