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Publicis Groupe CEO Arthur Sadoun is enjoying his company’s position as the world’s largest advertising holding company—for now.
If Omnicom’s acquisition of IPG passes regulatory scrutiny, Publicis will return to its challenger No. 2 position amid the “big six,” with the new Omnicom as its larger competitor.
But for Sadoun, Omicom’s proposed takeover of IPG creates more opportunity for Publicis than not, he shared with ADWEEK ahead of the company’s Q4 and full year 2024 earnings call on Feb. 4.
“This acquisition by Omnicom [of] IPG is really, for the industry, back to the future,” he said, adding that the new Omnicom will match WPP in size when it was Publicis’ largest opponent, with a roughly $20 billion market cap.
“We’re going to move back into the challenger position,” he said.
Still, Publicis is on its front foot in that a smaller number of competitors in the market means more business for it to potentially win. Citing figures from COMvergence, Sadoun said roughly 93% of global pitches in 2024 were won by one of the top four holding companies: WPP, Publicis, IPG, and Omnicom.
“By definition, the competitive landscape is going to be reduced by 25%,” he said. “So where we had a one in four chance [of winning] in the past, we’re gonna have a chance out of three.”
![Though initially described as a mega-merger, the deal between Omnicom and Interpublic Group is structured as an acquisition by Omnicom, and the new entity will continue to be called Omnicom […]](https://bunny-wp-pullzone-ybnxlnqh92.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/back-to-the-future-publicis-arthur-sadoun-smells-opportunity-in-omnicoms-ipg-takeover.jpg)
The distraction of merging
According to Sadoun, it could take up to five years to see if Omnicom’s acquisition of IPG will pay off.
“You have basically three years that they’re going to face restructuring that is going to lead to thousands of job cuts, and then, as John [Wren, CEO of Omnicom] said, there will be succession,” he said. “That’s a period that will, of course, create opportunities.”
While Omnicom and IPG are “very busy integrating more of the same in the name of cost efficiencies,” Publicis will be focused on innovation, he added.
“I can continue to build that category of one [offering] in a competitive landscape that is going to be reduced by 25%,” he said.
Publicis has invested billions in data and technology over the last decade, with acquisitions such as Epsilon, Sapient, Mars Commerce, and Influential, and said that on average, these acquisitions have been growing 40% organically since 2020.