Press Release: Mergers: Commission approves merger of Publicis and Omnicom in the advertising, marketing and communication sectors

On 9 January 2014 the European Commission authorised, under the EU Merger Regulation, the proposed merger of Publicis, an international advertising and communication group based in France, and Omnicom, a global advertising, marketing and corporate communication company headquartered in the US. The bidding nature of the markets, the presence of other large competitors, the relatively low barriers to entry, and the significant countervailing power of media vendors will ensure a level playing field in all the affected markets after the merger.