FTC sets closed-door meeting ahead of next week’s Walgreens-Rite Aid merger deadline

WASHINGTON — The Federal Trade Commission’s is set to hold a closed-door meeting on Thursday. The meeting comes in the lead-up to the Jul. 7 deadline by which the regulatory agency has to approve or file suit to block the Walgreens-Rite Aid merger.

The two companies imposed the deadline on the FTC when they certified compliance on May 8, requiring action within 60 days. In order for any action to be taken, both commissioners — Republican acting chairman Maureen Ohlhausen and Democrat Terrell McSweeny — have to agree, with a  deadlock resulting in the deal going through without any conditions, according to a Bloomberg report. The report also said that the FTC did not comment on the content of the meeting, per its policy not to with such meetings. 

The FTC isn’t the only entity involved in the deal that will be busy Thursday, as both Rite Aid and Walgreens have scheduled their quarterly earnings calls for that day.