Following overnight leaks, it has now been confirmed that Omnicom has acquired, subject to regulatory approval, fellow New York-based company Interpublic in a deal that will create the advertising industry’s largest holding company.
Omnicom’s chairman – CEO John Wren will maintain his role at the top of the combined entity, and Interpublic (IPG) CEO Philippe Krakowsky will be co-president/COO with Omnicom’s Daryl Simm.
The deal is likely to close in the second half of 2025, according to an article on marketing and media news outlet, The Drum.
The Drum adds this deal would make the biggest advertising holding company in the world in terms of revenue – shifting the balance of power from Europe to the US.
Just last week, Publicis posted a video featuring Snoop Dogg, where the rapper speculated that the French agency had overtaken its competition to become the largest holding company.
Shuffling of the deck chairs
A disagreement of top exec roles was rumoured as what scuttled the super merger of Omnicom and Publicis that was aborted back in 2014. Beyond a shuffling of the deck chairs in the corporate suite, and an inevitable cost cutting of central resources and group functions it’s hard to imagine much changing on the surface here in Aotearoa.
Omnicom owns major creative shops Colenso, DDB, Clemenger and TBWA; and FCB is the main IPG agency in New Zealand. It would make sense that they all maintain their independence due to client conflict management. There could be some rationalisation of capabilities such as programmatic and media trading for the media brands OMD, PHD Media, Hearts & Science, FCB Media and Initiative all operating in this market. This potential merger is looking more like a rationalisation rather than a scale play.
However, Alex Radford, Co-Founder and Partner at media agency D3, and also Chair of Independent Media Agencies New Zealand (IMANZ), says the proposed acquisition raises major conflict concerns.
“With OMD, PHD, Hearts & Science, FCB, Initiative and UM under one umbrella, the need for independent agencies will become even clearer. Clients will turn to indies for agility, transparency, and conflict-free solutions, redefining the landscape for our sector,” says Radford.
– Additional reporting by StopPress Team
