Staples shares soar after announcing $550M sale

Staples shares rose 6.4 percent on Tuesday — plus another 5.1 percent after hours — after the office supply chain announced it would sell $550 million in corporate contract business.

The share spike is an indication that some on Wall Street believe the move pre­sages regulatory approval of Staples’ $6 billion offer to buy rival Office Depot.

But not so fast, sources tell The Post.

“I gather by this announcement any talks [toward getting approval] have not succeeded,” a source close to the situation said.

“This shows [Staples] wants to litigate their proposed fix and needs to complete the sale,” the person said.

The Federal Trade Commission in December sued to stop the takeover, alleging that national corporate customers have only those two companies to buy from.

A trial on the matter is set for March 21.

This is essentially the same proposal the FTC already reviewed and rejected before filing the suit, sources said.

If Staples were settling with the FTC, it would likely announce it all at once instead of just announcing the $550 million sale to Essen­dant, the source said.

Office Depot shares rose 1.8 percent on Tuesday, to $5.03.