In today’s Digest, we cover a record-breaking deal closed by Electronic Arts, the FTC giving final approval to the Omnicom–IPG deal on the condition of certain ad rules as well as Anthropic tripling its global staff as AI demand surges.

Electronic Arts closes largest buyout ever

Videogame giant Electronic Arts will be closing a deal for the largest buyout of all time, valued at around $55bn (£40.91). Investors include private-equity firm Silver Lake, and Saudi Arabia’s Private Investment Fund, among others. The transaction is slated to close in the first quarter of fiscal 2027. 

Under the agreement, Electronic Arts shareholders will receive USD$210 (£156) per share in cash, a 25% premium on the stock’s closing price on 25th September.

FTC clears Omnicom–IPG acquisition with ad rules 

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has signed off on a revised final consent order tied to Omnicom’s USD$13.5bn (£10.12 bn) acquisition of Interpublic Group (IPG), locking in limits on how the combined company can handle publisher relationships.

The order explicitly bars Omnicom from denying ad dollars to publishers based on political or ideological viewpoints unless directed by a client. The move follows concerns that holding companies, sometimes via industry trade groups, have coordinated ad boycotts targeting certain media sites, undermining their ad revenue and content production.The ruling means Omnicom cannot maintain ideology-based exclusion lists or blocklists across its media buying operations, unless advertisers themselves request them, placing control with clients.

The acquisition is still being reviewed by European regulators. 

Anthropic to triple global staff as AI demand surges

Anthropic will triple its international workforce and expand its applied AI team fivefold, as demand for its Claude models accelerates outside the US. The company said nearly 80% of consumer usage now comes from overseas, with per-person adoption in South Korea, Australia, and Singapore surpassing that of American users.

Backed by Alphabet and Amazon and valued at USD$183bn (£136bn), Anthropic has carved out a position as a frontier AI leader, with Claude widely seen as one of the most advanced large language models on the market. Its global business customer base has surged from fewer than 1,000 to over 300,000 in just two years, while run-rate revenue has jumped from USD$1bn (£750m) at the start of 2025 to more than USD$5bn (£3.71bn) by August.

To support this growth, the company will hire over 100 new staff across Dublin, London, and Zurich, alongside opening its first Asian office in Tokyo and adding additional European hubs. The expansion will be led by Chris Ciauri, newly appointed MD of International