British regulator clears path for Omnicom-IPG merger
The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority will not escalate the Omnicom–Interpublic merger to a phase 2 probe. The $13.25 billion all-stock deal is on track to close in H2 2025.
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Britain’s top competition watchdog has given the green light to Omnicom’s planned acquisition of Interpublic, deciding against an in-depth phase two investigation that could have delayed or derailed the deal.
The decision from the Competition and Markets Authority removes a key regulatory hurdle for the $13.25 billion all-stock merger, which would create the world’s largest advertising and marketing agency. The transaction, first announced in December, is expected to close in the second half of 2025.
In June, the CMA opened a preliminary review of the merger to evaluate whether it would substantially lessen competition in the U.K. advertising market. With the phase two probe now off the table, the regulator has effectively concluded that the deal does not raise significant antitrust concerns.
The merger had already received conditional clearance in the United States. In late June, the Federal Trade Commission approved the deal on the stipulation that the combined entity refrains from entering agreements that would steer advertising dollars toward—or away from—media outlets based on political content.
In July, CEO John Wren confirmed that the company’s acquisition of Interpublic Group (IPG) is entering its final phase.
“We remain fully on track to complete the transaction in the second half of this year,” Wren said during the Q2 2025 earnings call. “Phil and I have continued to speak with our clients and our people. The response has been overwhelmingly positive. There's a genuine sense of anticipation and excitement about the opportunities our combined company will create that has only intensified as we approach the closing.”
While the largest remaining approval is pending from the European Union, Wren expressed little concern. “Getting through the United States was probably the biggest hurdle… and I think a lot of these remaining governments look to see the US has approved it before they finalize whatever their decisions are,” he said. “We're pretty damn confident that we're well along in the process.”
