A prominent activist investor has taken a stake in Office Depot, believing the workplace supply chain could be near a deal that will clear all regulatory barriers to its merger with Staples, The Post has learned.
The deal would involve Amazon, which is believed to be eyeing the corporate business unit of Office Depot, according to a person familiar with the investor’s thinking.
While no decision has yet been made about whether Jeff Bezos’ $272 billion market-cap company will ink a deal, there has been talk on Wall Street that the chief executive was looking to expand his Amazon Business footprint.
Chatter in recent days centered on Amazon weighing a bid for privately held W.B. Mason, the No. 3 office supplier, a second source said.
Amazon announced in April 2015 that it was starting Amazon Business.
This month, Amazon — answering a Staples subpoena in that chain’s battle with the Federal Trade Commission decision to block the Office Depot merger — said it wanted to keep confidential several operational planning documents that, in detail, explain its business goals and the requested investment that Amazon Business was seeking from the company as a whole to achieve its aims.
While Amazon has its own distribution centers, it likely would use some of Office Depot’s corporate accounts to jump-start its new office supply business, sources said.
An Amazon-Office Depot deal would create a stronger No. 2 player in the sector and help Staples get the FTC to reverse its decision to block the $6 billion deal, one source said.
Staples met with the FTC on March 8 and 9 about a settlement, it said during a pretrial conference on Wednesday.
Staples declined to give specifics, a court official said.
The FTC said during the hearing that it was clear with Staples about what it wants in a settlement and has not seen it yet, the official said.
That news of settlement talks caused Office Depot’s shares to rise 3.1 percent Wednesday, to $5.26. Shares are up 7.1 percent since Feb. 10.
In February 2015, Staples and Office Depot agreed to merge in a cash and stock deal that valued Office Depot at $11 a share.
On Monday, the FTC’s suit to block the merger goes to trial in a Washington, DC, federal court.
The activist believes there could soon be a settlement in the case, the source added.
There is little chance the judge reverses the FTC’s December 4-0 vote to block the deal, sources said.
The FTC believes the merger would cause too much concentration in the national office supplies space.
The FTC, before suing to stop the merger, rejected a settlement offer Staples was proposing to sell $550 million in corporate contract business to Essendant.
In February, Staples announced it signed the deal with Essendant but it is doubtful that divestiture would be enough to ease FTC concerns because Essendant, even with new business, is not large enough to effectively compete with Staples, sources said.
Staples declined comment. Amazon did not return calls.