• by David Kaplan , December 2, 2004

The $1.3 billion WPP Group and Grey Global Group merger has been delayed, but not derailed, as the two ad holding companies have chosen to hold up the process until additional filings required by the European Union can be completed.

In an amendment WPP provided to the contract submitted to the European Commission, the EU's regulatory arm, the filings are expected to take two months longer than originally planned. The initial contract called for a nine-month deadline to complete the filings.

The European Commission review process will take approximately one month. WPP's and Grey's combined 2003 revenues would have been $8.637 billion, according to filings in the United States--a figure which indicates that the merger will be more than worth the wait.