Omnicom is “confident” its takeover of Interpublic will close by the end of November, as the European Union has formally moved to the final stage of approving the deal.
The US agency group asked for permission to complete the takeover in a filing to the European Commission, the regulatory body for the EU, on Monday (October 20), according to an update on the EC’s website.
Omnicom has been in dialogue with the EC since the spring, when it first sought approval, and it needed to satisfy the regulator’s competition queries before being allowed to move to the last stage of completion.
Final approval is expected to take 25 working days—around November 24—and it is thought Omnicom will likely take a further 48 hours to close the deal globally.
The EU is the last remaining jurisdiction where Omnicom is awaiting approval for its takeover to create the world’s biggest agency group.
An Omnicom spokesperson told Campaign: “We submitted our filing to the EU commission yesterday, 20 October. We expect this to be the final step in securing EU approval, which is our last outstanding jurisdiction for anti-trust clearance. We remain confident we will close the acquisition in late November.”
Omnicom won approval in the US, its biggest market, in June, and in the UK in August.
This latest update will likely mean the takeover completes just under 12 months from when Omnicom and IPG first announced the deal on 9 December last year.
Mexico was the other outstanding market apart from the EU, and was approved in recent weeks.
Analysts at UBS said in a research note that Omnicom’s filing to the EU should bring clarity for investors, including more detail on synergies as the two groups integrate operations and financial outlook.
UBS said, “If approved, we think this means that the merger would be completed by the end of November. Assuming completion, we see multiple positive catalysts: (1) Initiation of a share buyback; (2) An update on synergy targets; (3) Guidance for the pro forma company in 2026.”
Omnicom will announce its Q3 earnings after the stock market closes later today (21 October). The enlarged group will have around $26 billion in revenues, overtaking both Publicis Groupe and WPP.
