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Commerce Commission gives go ahead for OMG and IPG merger
The Commerce Commission of New Zealand has granted clearance for Omnicom Group to acquire Interpublic Group, a move that would create the world’s biggest advertising company.
The news of the merger was first announced in December 2024, while still being subject to regulatory approval. Omnicom (OMG) agencies include Hearts and Science, PHD and OMD, while Interpublic (IPG) agencies include FCB and Initiative.
New Zealand’s Commerce Commission was one of the first to raise its concerns, saying this acquisition could impact competition in the advertising and media buying markets here in Aotearoa.
But today, the Commission released a statement that it was satisfied this would not be the case, issuing clearance for the deal to go ahead.
“Our investigation found that, while Omnicom and Interpublic compete to supply marketing and communications services and media buying services to advertiser clients throughout New Zealand, the merged entity is likely to continue to face strong competitive constraint from other large MCS and MBS agencies, as well as local independent agencies supplying these services, following the acquisition,” deputy chair Anne Callinan said in a statement.
In the latest issue of NZ Marketing magazine, partner and co-founder of D3 Alex Radford shares his thoughts on what this merger means for the media industry here, including the fact that the newly combined OMG-IPG entity would control 55% of our media spend.
Across the Tasman, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission is expected to give its ruling by July 24. Meanwhile, in the UK, the Competition and Markets Authority has launched an investigation into the merger. It is expected to give an update by August 13 as to whether to escalate the investigation to phase two.
