Bedding retailer Tempur Sealy has agreed to divest nearly 180 stores to facilitate its proposed acquisition of Mattress Firm.

The company has signed a deal with Mattress Warehouse to sell its Sleep Outfitters subsidiary, which includes 103 stores and seven distribution centers, and 73 Mattress Firm locations.

The move aims to push forward a “successful litigation process” of the planned merger with Mattress Firm, which has been facing a Federal Trade Commission (FTC) challenge.

The store divestiture is subject to the approval of the merger, which is expected to close late this year or early next year. Hearings on the FTC’s challenge will begin on November 12 and last about two weeks.

Following the closing of the proposed acquisition and divestiture, Tempur Sealy expects to operate over 2800 retail locations worldwide, with half of its North American sales coming from the Mattress Firm operations. The company also hopes to achieve annual run-rate synergies of $100 million four years after the acquisition.

In May last year, Tempur Sealy entered an agreement to acquire Mattress Firm in a cash and stock transaction valued at approximately $4 billion.

However, the FTC moved to block the acquisition in July this year as it would give Tempur Sealy “the ability and incentive to suppress competition and raise prices for mattresses”.