Staples, Corporate Express merger granted approval by European Commission

By Lisa Kerner

Charlotte, N.C., June 17 - The European Commission granted clearance in the proposed merger of Staples, Inc. and Corporate Express NV.

With the approval, the final regulatory clearance requirement for the offer is satisfied, a Staples news release said.

On June 11, Corporate Express announced it approved Staples' latest offer to acquire the company for €9.25 per ordinary share, or €3.1 billion.

The acceptance period for tendering ordinary shares - including ordinary shares represented by American Depositary Shares, depositary receipts of preference shares A and the 2% subordinated convertible bonds due 2010 - ends June 27 at 11:30 a.m. ET, according to the release.

It was previously reported that Staples Acquisition began the tender offer on May 19. Both companies said they expect to close the merger in July.

Corporate Express terminated its merger agreement with Marly, France-based office supply company Lyreco SAS, valued at €1.7 billion, as part of its deal with Staples, a prior news release noted.

Staples is an office superstore based in Framingham, Mass.

Corporate Express is a business-to-business office supply company based in Amsterdam.

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