Omnicom seals Interpublic takeover, structural details to be revealed next week

Omnicom has completed its acquisition of Interpublic, forming the world’s largest holding group with more than US$25 billion in combined revenue and a mandate to lead what CEO John Wren calls the “next era” of intelligent, connected growth.

The deal unites two of the industry’s biggest holding companies under the Omnicom umbrella. Wren remains chairman and CEO, with Phil Angelastro staying on as EVP and CFO. Philippe Krakowsky and Daryl Simm become co-presidents and co-COOs. The full leadership slate will be announced on 1 December.

SEE MORE: The Omnicom–IPG merger changes everything, especially for CMOs

“This is a defining moment for our company and our industry,” Wren said. “Omnicom is setting a new standard for modern marketing and sales leadership — creating stronger brands, delivering superior business outcomes, and driving sustainable growth.”

The enlarged group will continue to trade under the OMC ticker and operate a portfolio spanning media, creative, commerce, precision marketing, PR, branding, production, healthcare and experiential. All divisions will be powered by Omni, Omnicom’s intelligence platform that the company claims is central to its pitch for integrated, data-led growth.

For CMOs, the merger marks the most significant consolidation move in advertising since the 2013 Publicis–Omnicom attempt, reshaping the competitive dynamics across global brand, media and CRM accounts. Omnicom is positioning the combined company as a single, connected partner capable of unifying data, creativity and technology across the full marketing and sales spectrum.

Regulatory filings warn of risks tied to integration, talent retention, client conflict management and potential client loss, as well as broader macro factors such as shifts in marketing spend, credit conditions, cybersecurity threats and the complexity of scaling AI safely across the business.

The combined company will outline more structural details next week.

A reshaped industry model?

Rumours of an Omnicom–IPG tie-up began circulating in early 2025 after both holding companies signalled pressure on margins, slower global growth and the need for deeper integration across data, media and CRM.

The merger also ends one of the industry’s longest rivalries. Omnicom and IPG have spent decades competing for the same global clients across creative, media, PR, CRM and health. Bringing them together alters the balance of power among the Big Four networks - Omnicom, Publicis, WPP and Dentsu and creates a new scale player that surpasses WPP in revenue and headcount.

For brand marketers, the deal signals the most significant restructuring of the agency landscape in more than a decade. The consolidation raises key questions around account conflict management where both groups share clients across automotive, FMCG, retail, financial services, health and government.

Managing these overlaps without losing business will be a critical early test.

Across the APAC region, there is little to suggest a management overhaul, but again details on this front will become clearer as the weeks progress.

Omnicom is positioning the combined group as a fully connected marketing and sales engine powered by its Omni intelligence platform, a direct play against WPP’s Open, Publicis’ CoreAI and Dentsu’s Merkury stack.

With thousands of overlapping roles across creative, media, PR and production, the integration period will be closely watched for redundancies, senior departures and potential destabilisation of flagship agencies.

For now, WPP loses its long-running title as the world’s largest marketing group and now faces a more data-integrated rival.

Publicis, coming off strong growth in AI, retail media and its Epsilon acquisition becomes the network most directly challenged by Omnicom’s new intelligence-led positioning.

Dentsu, mid-transformation and still integrating Merkle globally, faces renewed pressure in media, CX and CRM.

As the largest consolidation in advertising in over a decade, the Omnicom–IPG deal puts the industry on notice: scale, intelligence platforms and connected capabilities are no longer optional; they are now the baseline for competing in the AI-led era of marketing.