Omnicom is one step nearer to closing its $13.5 billion acquisition of Interpublic Group, after the Federal Commerce Fee (FTC) permitted a consent decree on Monday that bars the mixed entity from participating in politically motivated advert boycotts.
The FTC permitted the proposed consent order in a bid to “forestall potential anticompetitive coordination by Omnicom … in negotiations with media publishers over situations comparable to pricing, advert placement, and sponsorships, in addition to serving to execute advertisers’ advert campaigns,” in accordance with a press launch.
The restriction bars Omnicom from withholding advert {dollars} from publishers—comparable to social or information platforms—primarily based on their political opinions, until by express consumer request. The order doesn’t limit particular person advertisers from selecting the place their adverts seem, however prohibits Omnicom from steering spend primarily based on a writer’s political or ideological stance.
“Web sites and different publications that depend on promoting are vital to the circulate of our nation’s commerce and communication,” mentioned Daniel Guarnera, director of the FTC’s Bureau of Competitors, in a press release. “Coordination amongst promoting companies to suppress promoting spending on publications with disfavored political or ideological viewpoints threatens to distort not solely competitors between advert companies, but additionally public dialogue and debate. The FTC’s motion at this time prevents illegal coordination that targets particular political or ideological viewpoints whereas preserving particular person advertisers’ capability to decide on the place their adverts are positioned.”
In a joint assertion from Omnicom and IPG, CEO John Wren mentioned the businesses had been “delighted” the deal had cleared “this vital regulatory hurdle,” calling it an essential step towards “creating a brand new period” of selling options.
IPG CEO Philippe Krakowsky added that the merger would mix “deep swimming pools of expertise, complementary capabilities, and geographic strengths” to “meet the evolving wants of shoppers in a shopper and media panorama being reworked by know-how and knowledge.”
The consent order follows a months-long investigation by the FTC, together with a uncommon second request for info in March, which usually indicators deeper antitrust scrutiny. In line with the FTC’s personal knowledge, three-quarters of mergers topic to a second request are both deserted or restructured. On the time, Omnicom characterised the request as “a regular a part of the regulatory course of.”
Introduced in December, Omnicom’s takeover of IPG would unite the third- and fourth-largest media shopping for companies within the U.S. to kind an promoting behemoth with $25 billion in annual income. The FTC opened a probe into the merger shortly after it was introduced; each corporations have reiterated their expectation that the transaction will shut within the second half of 2025.
The consent decree emerged as a late-stage hurdle, after the FTC started weighing situations to stop coordinated advert boycotts, in accordance with Reuters. The transfer aligns with broader efforts by the Trump administration to counter what it describes as company bias towards conservative voices—and follows X proprietor Elon Musk’s claims that advertisers and watchdog teams engaged in a coordinated boycott of his platform. A lawsuit filed by X final yr alleges that advertisers and commerce teams “conspired” to “withhold billions in promoting income,” claiming the pullback harmed the platform’s capability to compete.
With the consent decree in place, the FTC granted early termination of the Hart-Scott-Rodino ready interval. The order now enters a 30-day public remark interval earlier than turning into finalized.
