(Reuters) -Britain’s competition regulator said on Wednesday it would not refer the merger between Omnicom and Interpublic to an in-depth phase 2 probe, clearing the way for the creation of the world’s largest advertising and marketing agency.
Omnicom struck the $13.25 billion all-stock deal for rival Interpublic in December last year. The deal is expected to close in the second half of 2025.
The Competition and Markets Authority launched its initial probe into the merger in June to assess if the deal could lead to a reduction in competition in the UK market.
The deal was cleared by the U.S. FTC in late June on the condition that the new company does not enter agreements with others to steer ad dollars towards or away from publishers based on political content.
Omnicom and Interpublic did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
(Reporting by Unnamalai L in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh Kuber and Arun Koyyur)
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