Omnicom Group has struck a $13.25 billion all-stock deal to buy rival Interpublic Group, creating the world’s largest advertising agency as traditional players look to better compete with Big Tech firms amid accelerating use of AI.

The deal, announced yesterday, could attract regulatory scrutiny as it seeks to merge the world’s third-largest ad buyer, Omnicom, with the fourth-largest – Interpublic, a Reuters report stated yesterday, adding Interpublic investors will receive 0.344 Omnicom shares for each share held, or $35.58 based on Omnicom’s last close.

“We are pretty confident this is not going to create any regulatory issues. The world isn’t divided into four companies —you have things like Google, Facebook, Amazon… servicing people’s marketing needs,” Omnicom CEO John Wren said on a call with analysts.

“Also, there’s reason to believe that the change in administration (in the US) will make it more friendly to business,” he added. Regulatory roadblocks had forced Omnicom and France’s Publicis Groupe SA to call off their $35 billion merger in 2013.

Omnicom owns brands such as BBDO and TBWA, while Interpublic owns McCann, Weber Shandwick and Mediabrands. Both companies are based in New York.

The combined company would have revenue of more than $25 billion, based on 2023 figures. It would compete with the UK’s WPP and Publicis, which generated annual revenue of 14.85 billion pounds ($18.97 billion) and 13.10 billion euros ($13.86 billion), respectively.

Wren will lead the new company, while Interpublic boss Philippe Krakowsky will serve as co-Chief Operating Officer along with Daryl Simm.

Tech giants such as Alphabet-owned Google and Amazon.com have in recent years attracted marketing dollars away from traditional agencies by offering both advertising tools and marketplaces to buy and sell them.

Soaring use of AI tools that allow businesses to create ads cheaper and faster has squeezed traditional agencies, forcing them to scramble to develop similar in-house tools to retain clients.