• by Steve McClellan  @mp_mcclellan, February 4, 2015

Publicis Groupe said Wednesday that it expected to complete its estimated $3.7 billion tender offer for Sapient by the end of the week, having now cleared all regulatory and antitrust hurdles related to the proposed deal.

Late last month the Paris-based holding company extended the tender offer until Feb. 5 as it awaited clearance from the U.S. government’s Committee on Foreign Investment to give the agreement a green light. Sapient handles public contracts that triggered approval by the committee. The inter-agency government body looks at the national security implications of certain transactions involving foreign entities.

Publicis said in January that over 80% of outstanding Sapient shares had been tendered, well above the requirement of greater than 50% for the deal to go through.