(Il Sole 24 Ore Radiocor) - Milano, 16 giu - Britain's competition watchdog said it had launched a probe into the planned merger of advertising groups Omnicom and Interpublic to see whether the tie-up might result in a substantial lessening of competition in the UK market.

Omnicom agreed to buy rival Interpublic Group last December in a deal valued at 13.25 billion dollars.

The deadline for the Competition and Markets Authority to announce its decision whether to refer the merger for a phase.

2 investigation is set for August 13 this year.

(RADIOCOR) 16-06-25 16:26:34 (0477) 5 NNNN