WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Federal Trade Commission said on Monday it had approved with conditions the proposed $482.7 million merger of office supply distributors Staples Inc and Essendant Inc.

“Staples, which is owned by the private-equity firm Sycamore Partners, will establish a firewall separating Staples’ business-to-business sales operations from Essendant’s wholesale business,” the regulator said in a statement.

“This firewall will restrict Staples’ access to the commercially sensitive information of Essendant’s customers.”

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