Six months after Omnicom announced its proposed acquisition of Interpublic Group, a UK regulatory body has announced that it is investigating whether the deal would stifle competition in the country. 

The probe, by the Competition And Markets Authority (CMA) was announced May 7. The first step, it said was to solicit comments from “interested parties,” with comments due by May 21. 

“The CMA is issuing this preliminary ‘invitation to comment’ to allow interested parties to submit to the CMA any initial views on the impact that the transaction could have on competition in the UK,” the Authority stated.  

The group said it has not yet launched a formal investigation – ”This invitation to comment is the first part of the CMA’s information-gathering process.” 

The merger was announced December 8.  

During its Q1 earnings call with analysts last month, Omnicom reported that it had received regulatory clearance from six of the 18 jurisdictions the companies need clearance from, including China, Colombia, Brazil, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Singapore. 

In March, New Zealand launched a formal probe looking into competition issues and the companies received a second request for information from the U.S. Federal Trade Commission. Such requests occur with a relatively small number of M&A deals that receive Hart-Scott-Rodino scrutiny from the FTC or the Justice Department, although the companies stated it was a “standard part of the regulatory process.” 

Pictured above: Omnicom and IPG CEOs John Wren (left) and Philippe Krakowsky.