Does Omnicom’s Planned IPG Acquisition Matter for Government Contracting?

The advertising world is abuzz with Omnicom’s planned acquisition of IPG, merging two industry titans to form the largest holding company in history. While this consolidation combines nearly $900M in Omnicom federal work with IPG’s half-sized share from FY2024, does it matter in the Government/Public Sector? Not so much. 

Here’s why:

• Government Work is Agency-Driven: Contracts are pursued and won by individual agencies, not holding companies. Omnicom’s Porter Novelli and Ketchum, along with IPG’s Weber Shandwick, will keep competing for task orders as they always have.

• Military Recruitment Contracts Stay Diverse: Omnicom already handles Army and Air Force recruitment. Could this merger reduce a bidder for Navy? Maybe. But WPP still manages Marines and Navy, maintaining balance across holding companies.

• M&A in Government Contracting Has Different Goals: Most federal M&A focuses on adding capabilities, gaining contracting vehicles, or expanding into new agencies. Omnicom doesn’t achieve these objectives here in the federal marketplace —both holding companies already have strong positions at CMS, CDC, and DoD.

• Scale Doesn’t Change Everything: Size doesn’t guarantee dominance. For example, J. Walter Thompson’s merger with VML helped retain longstanding contracts but didn’t drive major new wins. The same will likely apply here.

Even CMS reinforces this in its $1.2B NEC IDIQ RFP, allowing multiple bids from the same holding company but requiring agencies—not holding companies—to lead.

While this acquisition shakes up the commercial world, government contracting will likely shrug and move on. It’s still about agency-level performance, not holding company power.

Bottom line: What happens at the agency level will continue to shape outcomes—not the holding company chessboard.