President Obama’s regulators may have found a controversial merger they can support.

There were growing signs on Thursday that the Federal Trade Commission will approve Walgreens $17 billion acquisition of Rite-Aid — a combo of the No. 1 and No. 3 drug store chains.

The deal, if approved, would come with conditions, sources said.

The FTC’s biggest concern is the merger will give the combined company too much power when negotiating prices with pharmacy benefit managers (those who negotiate prices with drug manufacturers for pharmacies), sources said.

On Thursday, the chief executive of the No. 1 pharmacy manager, Express Scripts’ Tim Wentworth, said he welcomed the merger.

There will still be, post merger, plenty of competition in retail, he said.

There is some question whether any of the sizable PBMs will object, sources said.

Meanwhile, Walgreen’s within a few days is expected to announce the beginning of a process to divest stores in regions where the chains may have too much overlap, a source close to the situation said.

Rite-Aid shares Thursday closed down 4 cents to $7.57.