Tuesday, 02 January 2024 12:17 GMT

Omnicom-IPG Deal Approved By US Federal Trade Commission


(MENAFN- PRovoke) NEW YORK - The US Federal Trade Commission has approved Omnicom's $13.5 billion acquisition of Interpublic (IPG) – with conditions that Omnicom agencies must remain neutral and cannot blacklist media platforms and outlets on political grounds.

The decision – 10 months after the deal was first announced in December last year and then approved by shareholders in March – follows months of scrutiny and then approval by competition authorities in countries around the world, including the CMA in the UK and the ACCC in Australia .

There has also been a period for public comments, which gave rise to a complaint to the FTC in June that advertising agencies, brands and trade associations had co-ordinated efforts to not allocate budget to media on political or ideological grounds.

In its statement , the FTC said the complaint had“alleged that advertising agencies have coordinated-including through industry associations-on decisions not to advertise on certain websites and applications. Coordination among advertising firms may reduce ad revenues for particular media publishers, forcing those publishers to reduce the amount of content they can offer to their own consumers and their investment in their sites.”

It continues:“The order eliminates Omnicom's ability to deny advertising dollars to media publishers based on their political or ideological viewpoint, except at the express and individualised direction of Omnicom's advertiser customers.”

Responding to the order , Omnicom chairman and CEO John Wren (pictured, left, with Interpublic CEO Philippe Krakowsky) said:“We're pleased to finalize this agreement with the FTC. It reaffirms our commitment to provide neutral and unbiased advice to clients in making decisions about their brand media placements.”

The deal will create the world's biggest marketing services group. It is not yet clear what the merger will mean for Omnicom's PR agencies – Ketchum, FleishmanHillard, Porter Novelli and Portland – and IPG agencies The Weber Shandwick Collective, Golin and Current Global.

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