Staples’ proposed $6.3 billion deal to buy rival Office Depot, facing a tough anti-trust review, has picked up an unlikely supporter: Amazon.
Jeff Bezos’ e-commerce giant is quietly reaching out to regulators, through intermediaries, to let them know they would like the deal to get approved, sources tell The Post.
“They are making a concerted effort to engage DC,” a source said, noting that Amazon is looking to convince the Federal Trade Commission that it is a viable player in the office supplies business.
Pressing to build its share of the office supply sector through its Amazon Business unit, Amazon would rather face only one national rival and not two.
On a conference call Thursday to report second-quarter results, Bezos mentioned Amazon Business before even discussing its much better known recent Prime Day success.
Amazon Business, launched in April, offers free two-day shipping for orders of $49 or more on office supplies.
Amazon Germany already generates more than $1.1 billion in office product sales, the Cleveland Research Company said in a Thursday report.
Meanwhile, the CRC said the most probable outcome for the Staples-Office Depot merger was that regulators would block the deal.
Office Depot’s shares Thursday fell 3.7 percent, to $7.97, on the report. Its shares are off 11 percent since July 7.
The FTC is investigating the merger and is likely several months from reaching a decision, sources said.
Regulators are now asking national companies how many bids they receive when pricing office supply contracts, two (Staples and Office Depot) or more, the source said.
Amazon did not return a call seeking comment.