Omnicom Group Inc and the Interpublic Group of Companies are in advanced discussions about a potential merger, according to media reports.
Combining the two New York-listed companies would create the world’s largest advertising company with revenues of more than US$20 billion (A$31.2 billion) in 2023, according to a Reuters story.
Neither company has publicly commented on the story in the Wall Street Journal, which broke the news on Sunday (Monday AEDT) that an announcement could be made this week.
The companies had a mixed day on the New York Stock Exchange on Friday (Saturday AEDT) with Omnicom closing higher (0.3%) and Interpublic (0.8%) lower.
Omincorp (NYSE: OMCO) ended up 28 cents at US$103.42 and Interpublic (NYSE: IPG) finished down 22 cents at $29.26, capitalising them at $20.18 billion and $10.90 billion respectively.
Combined revenues would rank the merged group bigger than the industry’s largest players WPP Plc (LON: WPP), which had $15.1 billion net revenue in 2023, and Publicis Groupe SA (PUBP.PA) with $13 billion.
The group would have brands such as McCann Worldgroup, BBDO Worldwide and DDB Worldwide in advertising, and FleishmanHillard, Porter Novelli and Weber Shandwick in public relations.
Omnicom was formed through the world's largest advertising agency merger in 2000 of Omnicom Group and BBDO Worldwide with DDB Worldwide and TBWA Worldwide.