By Suzanne Vranica

Federal regulators are taking a closer look at Omnicom Group's proposed $13 billion acquisition of advertising giant Interpublic Group.

Omnicom on Thursday said both companies have received requests from the Federal Trade Commission for additional information and documentary materials, signaling the agency is reviewing whether the transaction could be anti-competitive under U.S. law.

Omnicom, the New York ad giant behind agencies such BBDO, TBWA and OMD, agreed to an all-stock deal to buy Interpublic in December. If approved, the deal will create the world's largest ad company surpassing rivals Publicis Groupe and WPP.

Omnicom said the two companies have been engaged with the FTC throughout the regulatory process and continue to expect the deal to close in the second half of the year.

The deal is intended to help the combined company better compete with tech behemoths such as Google and Meta Platforms, which have emerged as dominant forces in the advertising business.

Industry executives believed the merger would face government scrutiny, as the combined company would be a dominating force in the ad-buying space. However, executives at the firms were optimistic about deal approval.

The additional scrutiny of the merger comes just weeks after five Democratic senators asked the Justice Department to investigate whether Elon Musk is leveraging his influence in the Trump administration to pressure advertisers into returning to X.

The request followed a Wall Street Journal report last month that an attorney at X encouraged Interpublic to increase its spending on X or face consequences. Interpublic executives interpreted the communication as a threat that its pending merger with rival Omnicom could be negatively affected by the Trump administration, given Musk's government role, the Journal reported.

The senators also urged FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson and Omeed Assefi, who oversees the Justice Department's antitrust division, to resist any pressure from Musk or X to block the Interpublic-Omnicom merger, the Journal reported.

A Justice Department spokesman at the time said, "Elon Musk and DOGE are saving historic amounts of taxpayer money from being spent on unserious bureaucratic pet projects-it comes as no surprise that Democrats are upset with him."

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(END) Dow Jones Newswires

March 13, 2025 16:55 ET (20:55 GMT)

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