Omnicom Group (OMC) Risk Analysis

The operational and financial performance of our international businesses are affected by global and regional economic conditions, competition for new business and personnel, currency exchange rate fluctuations, political conditions, differing tax and regulatory environments and other risks associated with extensive international operations. We conduct business in numerous high-growth markets and developing countries. Such countries tend to have longer billing collection cycles, currency repatriation restrictions and commercial laws that can be undeveloped, vague, inconsistently enforced, retroactively applied or frequently changed. Our operations are also subject to the United States Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and other anti-corruption and anti-bribery laws and regulations. These laws and regulations are complex and stringent, and any changes and violations could have an adverse effect on our business and reputation. Our business, results of operations and financial condition can be adversely affected if we are unable to effectively operate, or manage the risks associated with operating in these markets and countries. For financial information by geographic region, see Notes 3 and 8 to the consolidated financial statements.

In 2025, our international operations represented approximately 47% of our revenue. We operate in all major international markets including the Euro Zone, the United Kingdom, or the U.K., Australia, Brazil, Canada, China and Japan. Our agencies transact business in more than 50 different currencies. Substantially all of our foreign operations transact business in their local currency and, accordingly, their financial statements are translated into U.S. Dollars. As a result, both adverse and beneficial fluctuations in foreign exchange rates impact our business, results of operations and financial condition. In addition, funds transferred to the United States can be adversely or beneficially impacted by changes in foreign currency exchange rates.

We operate in numerous jurisdictions and are subject to a complex and evolving global tax environment. The determination of our tax liabilities requires significant judgment, including with respect to the application of tax laws, transfer pricing arrangements, valuation of deferred tax assets and liabilities, and the interpretation of new or existing tax regulations. Tax authorities may challenge our positions, and adverse outcomes from audits, investigations or litigation could result in additional tax liabilities, penalties or interest that differ materially from amounts previously recorded. Our effective tax rate and cash flows could also be adversely affected by changes in tax laws or policies, including changes to statutory tax rates, digital services taxes, the interpretation or enforcement of existing laws, or the adoption or modification of global minimum tax regimes, such as the Global Anti-Base Erosion issued by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development. These developments could increase tax complexity and uncertainty and may require us to restructure operations or intercompany arrangements, potentially resulting in increased tax expense or reduced cash flows.

Many governments, regulators, investors, employees, customers and other stakeholders are focused on environmental, social and governance considerations relating to businesses, including climate change and greenhouse gas emissions, human capital and diversity, equity and inclusion. We make statements about our environmental, social and governance goals and initiatives through information provided on our website, press statements and other communications, including through our Corporate Responsibility Report. Responding to these environmental, social and governance considerations and implementation of these goals and initiatives involves risks and uncertainties and requires ongoing investments. The success of our goals and initiatives may be impacted by factors that are outside our control. In addition, some stakeholders may disagree with our goals and initiatives and the focus and views of stakeholders may change and evolve over time and vary depending on the jurisdictions in which we operate. Any failure, or perceived failure, by us to achieve our goals, further our initiatives, adhere to our public statements, comply with federal, state or international environmental, social and governance laws and regulations, or meet evolving and varied stakeholder expectations and views could materially adversely affect our business, reputation, results of operations, financial condition and stock price.

We rely on our own and third-party service providers' information technology systems and infrastructure that are critical to our business, to connect with our clients, people and others, and to collect, store, transfer, process and use business, personal and financial data. We face cybersecurity risks that threaten the confidentiality, integrity and availability of our information technology systems or data stored on such systems. Cybersecurity threats and attacks, including computer viruses, social engineering/phishing, malfeasance by insiders, human or technological error, advanced persistent threats, malware, hacking, ransomware or other destructive or disruptive activities or software, are constantly evolving and pose a risk to our information technology systems and data. Cyberattacks are expected to accelerate on a global basis in frequency and magnitude as threat actors are becoming increasingly sophisticated using techniques and tools, including AI, that circumvent security controls, evade detection and remove forensic evidence. As a result, we may be unable to detect, investigate, remediate or recover from future attacks or incidents, or to avoid a material adverse impact to our information technology systems and data. There can be no assurance that our cybersecurity risk management program and processes will be fully implemented, complied with or effective in detecting and preventing such threats or protecting our information technology systems or data. Security breaches, improper use of our systems and unauthorized access to our data and information by employees and others may pose a risk that data may be exposed to unauthorized persons. Such occurrences could adversely affect our business, results of operations, financial condition and reputation and could result in litigation or regulatory action, as discussed below. Also, we have acquired or may acquire companies that have cybersecurity vulnerabilities or different cybersecurity risk management processes, which may increase our risks from cybersecurity threats and attacks. In addition, we make extensive use of third-party service providers, including cloud providers, that store, transmit and process data. These third-party service providers are also subject to cybersecurity risks that could adversely affect our business, results of operations, financial condition and reputation and could result in litigation or regulatory action, as discussed below. Currently, many of our agencies operate in a flexible working environment that allows for partial remote work. The number of personnel working remotely varies by market and is dependent on local conditions. When our employees work remotely, the risk of cybersecurity incidents and attacks and unauthorized exposure of sensitive business and client advertising and marketing information, as well as personal data or information, increases. We and certain of our third-party providers regularly experience cyberattacks and other incidents, and we expect such attacks and incidents to continue. For example, we have experienced cybersecurity incidents that resulted in the disruption of our information technology systems and required us to engage third parties to remediate the issues. While, to date, no incidents have had a material impact on our operations or financial results, we cannot guarantee that material incidents will not occur in the future. Any attack or incident could result in legal claims or proceedings (such as class actions), regulatory investigations and enforcement actions, fines and penalties, negative reputational impacts, and/or significant incident response, system restoration or remediation and future compliance costs, which could materially adversely affect our business, results of operations and financial condition. We also cannot guarantee that any such costs or losses will be covered by our existing insurance policies or that applicable insurance will be available to us in the future on economically reasonable terms or at all. Additionally, hardware, software applications or services that we develop or procure from third parties may contain defects in design or manufacture or other problems that could compromise the confidentiality, integrity or availability of our information technology systems or data stored on such systems.

Our ability to acquire new clients and retain existing clients may, in some cases, be limited by clients' perceptions of, or policies concerning, conflicts of interest arising from our other client relationships. If we are unable to maintain multiple agencies to manage multiple client relationships and avoid potential conflicts of interests, our business, results of operations and financial condition may be adversely affected. As a service business, our ability to attract and retain key personnel is an important aspect of our competitiveness. If we are unable to attract and retain key personnel, our ability to provide our services in the manner clients have come to expect may be adversely affected, which could harm our reputation and result in a loss of clients. Additionally, we may be unable to hire or retain talent who are trained in artificial intelligence, machine learning and advanced algorithms, to keep up with the rapid and ongoing technological advancements in our industry. Any of the foregoing could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, and financial condition.

We have incurred and will continue to incur transaction costs related to formulating and implementing integration plans, including facilities, systems and service contract consolidation costs and employment-related costs. We will continue to assess the magnitude of these costs, and additional unanticipated costs may be incurred in connection with the Merger and the integration of IPG. Although we expect that the elimination of duplicative costs, as well as the realization of other synergies related to the integration of the businesses, should allow the combined company to offset integration-related costs over time, this net benefit may not be achieved in the near term, or at all. For additional information, see "Risk Factors - The failure to integrate our and IPG's businesses and operations successfully in the expected time frame may adversely affect our business, results of operations and financial condition." The costs described above, as well as other unanticipated costs and expenses, could adversely affect our results of operations, financial condition and cash flows.

In 2025, our largest client represented approximately 2.4% and our 100 largest clients represented approximately 54% of our revenue. Clients generally are able to reduce or cancel current or future spending on marketing and communications services at any time on short notice for any reason. A significant reduction in spending on our services by our largest clients, or the loss of several of our largest clients, if not replaced by new clients or an increase in business from existing clients, would adversely affect our revenue and could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition.

We operate in a highly competitive industry. Key competitive considerations for retaining existing clients and winning new clients include our ability to develop solutions that meet client needs in a rapidly changing environment, the quality and effectiveness of our services and our ability to serve clients efficiently, particularly large multinational clients, on a broad geographic basis. From time to time, clients may put their marketing and communications business up for competitive review. We have won and lost accounts as a result of these reviews. To the extent that we are not able to remain competitive or retain key clients, our revenue may be adversely affected, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition.