*

India antitrust raids target GroupM, Interpublic, Dentsu ( DNTUF ),

Publicis for price fixing, sources say

*

Raids continue well past midnight, some officials not

allowed to

go home

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Action coincides with cricket's IPL, a massive advertising

event

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Potential penalties include up to 10% of turnover

By Aditya Kalra

NEW DELHI, March 19 (Reuters) - India's antitrust

officers grilled media executives and seized data in an

investigation into price fixing by global advertising agencies

GroupM, Interpublic, Publicis and Dentsu ( DNTUF ), with raids continuing

well past midnight into a second day on Wednesday, people

familiar with the matter said.

The Competition Commission of India (CCI) raids began early

morning on Tuesday at around 10 locations in the strictest

enforcement action ever against media agencies and a group of

the nation's top broadcasters, just before the start of the

popular IPL cricket tournament, the biggest sporting event for

advertisers in India.

Top officials at the Indian office of GroupM were not

allowed to go home overnight and the raid was still continuing

on Wednesday, with evidence from mobile phones being cloned, two

people with direct knowledge said.

Raids at Indian offices of U.S.-based Interpublic's IPG

Mediabrands unit, Japan's Dentsu ( DNTUF ) and top broadcasters

industry group IBDF ended early morning on Wednesday, nearly 24

hours after they started, people familiar with the matter said.

At the New Delhi IBDF office raid, CCI inspectors reviewed

emails related to advertising dealings of the group, which

represents billionaire Mukesh Ambani's Reliance-Disney joint

venture and Sony ( SONY ), said the first source.

France's Publicis Groupe office was also raided on

Tuesday and the operation continued well past midnight, though

it wasn't clear if it has ended, said another source familiar

with the operation.

GroupM, owned by Britain's WPP ( WPP ), did not respond to

Reuters queries. WPP ( WPP ) in 2023 said it had a 45% media market

share in India, with 45 of the top 50 advertisers as clients.

Interpublic's IPG Mediabrands unit, Publicis, Dentsu ( DNTUF ) and the

IBDF did not respond to Reuters queries. The CCI also did not

respond.

The raids come amid major shifts in India's ad landscape

following a $8.5 billion merger between Walt Disney ( DIS ) and

Reliance's India media assets, which is estimated to have a 40%

share of the ad market in TV and streaming segments.

The media agencies compete in India, the world's

eighth-biggest ad market, where revenues of $18.5 billion last

year are set to grow 9.4% in 2025, GroupM estimates.

In a case started last year, the CCI is investigating

allegations that broadcasters and media agencies were colluding

on prices and discounts of ad rates. The raids were carried out

in New Delhi, Mumbai and Gurugram, Reuters has reported.

The watchdog does not provide details of price collusion

cases, or make its investigations public, and the case is likely

to drag on for months before a conclusion is reached.

If found guilty, the media agencies may be liable to pay a

penalty amounting to up to three times their profit for each

year during which the collusion took place, or 10% of their

turnover for each year of wrongdoing, whichever is higher.