Omnicom to hold 'most' fossil fuel contracts with IPG buy, says Clean Creatives

Omnicom has revealed that it will acquire The Interpublic Group of Companies (IPG) after its boards of directors unanimously approved a definitive agreement pursuant to which Omnicom will acquire Interpublic in a stock-for-stock transaction it said in a statement. 

However, environmental group Clean Creatives has called out the acquisition saying in a LinkedIn post:

By merging, Omnicom and IPG don't just become the world's biggest agency but also one of the world's biggest contributors to climate misinformation.

It added that Omnicom will now hold 124 fossil fuel contracts, jumping ahead of WPP, which has the second-most with 79. 

Don't miss: 1,000 agencies pledge to refuse work from fossil fuel industry in Clean Creatives campaign

"Combined, Omnicom will now include companies like ExxonMobil, aramco, and Chevron on its client list, all of which have pledged to increase their pollution during the hottest year in human history," it explained. 

Clean Creatives went on to say that this means that the agency's work with fossil fuels will increase across every continent. These include Saudi Aramco and TotalEnergies in the Middle East, bp (Castrol), PETRONAS, and others in Asia, Copec, Gasolineras Uno and Pluspetrol in Latin America and Suncor and ConocoPhillips in North America, it said. 

"So where does that leave things in our view? If the new leadership of this combined company wants to build its foundation on future-thinking strategy, they should start by winding down their fossil fuel clients who face a growing number of major legal actions and threats to their business models," said Clean Creatives. 

MARKETING-INTERACTIVE has reached out to Omnicom for more information while IPG declined to comment.

The acquisition was confirmed last night after some speculation. 

"The combined company will bring together the industry’s deepest bench of marketing talent, and the broadest and most innovative services and products, driven by the most advanced sales and marketing platform" Omnicom said in a statement.

Together, the companies will expand their capacity to create comprehensive full-funnel solutions that deliver better outcomes for the world’s most sophisticated clients, it added.

Under the terms of the agreement, Interpublic shareholders will receive 0.344 Omnicom shares for each share of Interpublic common stock they own.

Following the close of the transaction, Omnicom shareholders will own 60.6% of the combined company and Interpublic shareholders will own 39.4%, on a fully diluted basis. The transaction is expected to generate annual cost synergies of $750 million, it said. 

The new Omnicom will have over 100,000 expert practitioners. The company will deliver end-to-end services across media, precision marketing, CRM, data, digital commerce, advertising, healthcare, public relations and branding.

“This strategic acquisition creates significant value for both sets of shareholders by combining world-class, highly complementary data and technology platforms enabling new offerings to better serve our clients and drive growth,” said John Wren, Chairman and CEO of Omnicom. “Through this combination, we are poised to accelerate innovation and harness the significant opportunities created by new technologies in this era of exponential change. Now is the perfect time to bring together our technologies, capabilities, talent and geographic footprints to bring clients superior, data-driven outcomes. We are excited to welcome Philippe Krakowsky and the entire Interpublic team to the Omnicom family.”

“This combination represents a tremendous strategic opportunity for our stakeholders, amplifying our investments in platform capabilities and talent as part of a more expansive network,” said Philippe Krakowsky, Interpublic’s CEO. “Our two companies have highly complementary offerings, geographic presence and cultures. We also share a foundational belief in the power of ideas, enabled by technology and data. By joining Omnicom, we are creating a uniquely comprehensive portfolio of services that will make us the most powerful marketing and sales partner in a world that’s changing at speed. We look forward to working with Wren and the entire Omnicom team.”

Photo: Clean Creatives

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