$13.5bn Omnicom-IPG merger approved by FTC

Source: www.unsplash.com

Biggest advertising group

The combined entity will generate around $25bn in annual revenue, surpassing all competitors in the advertising sector.

The approval comes with a condition: Omnicom and IPG are prohibited from coordinating ad boycotts or excluding media platforms based on political or ideological viewpoints, unless explicitly requested by clients. This restriction aims to prevent the merged company from using its market power to influence advertising spending for political reasons.

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“Websites and other publications that rely on advertising are critical to the flow of our nation’s commerce and communication,” said Daniel Guarnera, director of the FTC’s Bureau of Competition. “Coordination among advertising agencies to suppress advertising spending on publications with disfavored political or ideological viewpoints threatens to distort not only competition between ad agencies, but also public discussion and debate. The FTC’s action today prevents unlawful coordination that targets specific political or ideological viewpoints while preserving individual advertisers’ ability to choose where their ads are placed. I thank the FTC staff for their thorough investigation of this merger.”

This comes after the 2024 reports that Elon Musk and X launched an antitrust lawsuit claiming the platform lost revenue after the World Federation of Advertisers’Global Alliance for Responsible Media (GARM) and four of its members, Unilever, Mars, CVS Health, and Ørsted conspired together and boycotted the platform.

Annual compliance

As part of the approval, Omnicom and IPG must submit annual compliance reports to the FTC for five years and cooperate with ongoing investigations into politically motivated ad spending.

“We are delighted that our transaction with Interpublic has cleared this significant regulatory hurdle,” said John Wren, chairman & CEO of Omnicom. “This is an important step toward the completion of the proposed acquisition and creating a new era in which we help clients grow with a comprehensive range of marketing and sales solutions, incorporating both creativity and technology. We continue to look forward to obtaining the remaining regulatory approvals and closing in the second half of this year, consistent with our expectations when we announced this transaction.”

“Today’s news is a notable step forward in the process of combining our companies and their deep pools of talent, complementary capabilities, and geographic strengths,” added Philippe Krakowsky, CEO of Interpublic. “Together with John and as part of his team, we will be exceptionally well-positioned to meet the evolving needs of clients in a consumer and media landscape being transformed by technology and data.”

The merger still requires regulatory approval in the UK and Australia and is expected to close in the second half of 2025, pending a 30-day public comment period and a final FTC vote.