Staples and Office Depot drop merger plan after court blocks it

New York

A FEDERAL judge on Tuesday blocked a US$6.3 billion proposed merger of Staples and Office Depot, dashing another huge US deal and handing the Obama administration one more antitrust victory.

The decision is a setback for the beleaguered retailers, which have each endured years of slumping sales and increased competition from Amazon and other rivals.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) had sued the two companies late last year, arguing that combining them would effectively create just one dominant retailer focused on pens, paper clips and Post-it notes.

In a three-page order, Judge Emmet Sullivan of the US District Court for the District of …