Omnicom acquires Interpublic, is the world's largest advertising company about to emerge?

The two advertising giants may merge to become the world's largest advertising group. On December 8th local time, the Financial Times cited sources that leading American advertising company Omnicom and Interpublic are in talks for a merger deal worth over $30 billion—this negotiation began in the summer and could be announced as early as today. In fact, it is Omnicom acquiring Interpublic, but it may be packaged as a merger, "Interpublic has been seeking buyers for some time." If this deal goes through, it could create the largest advertising company in the world, surpassing France's Publicis Group and the UK's WPP Group—these two companies have been vying for the title of the largest holding company in the advertising industry. Analysts believe that due to the overlap in media and creative agency operations between Omnicom and Interpublic, this transaction is expected to face strict regulatory scrutiny. This deal comes at a time when traditional advertising companies are under immense pressure, as a significant amount of industry funding is being diverted to large tech companies like Google and Amazon, which not only provide advertising tools but also offer marketplaces for buying and selling digital ads. Moreover, the introduction of AI tools is causing a significant impact across the advertising industry—AI tools enable businesses to create ads at lower costs, faster speeds, and with more precise targeting, allowing clients to more easily conduct marketing efforts on their own. Currently, all advertising companies are forced to invest hundreds of millions of dollars in developing AI tools to address the survival threats posed by this new technology. As of last Friday's close, Omnicom's market capitalization was $20.2 billion, and Interpublic's market capitalization was $10.9 billion, with the combined group's net revenue expected to exceed $20 billion.