PARIS (Reuters) - Shares in European advertising companies Publicis (PA:PUBP) and WPP (L:WPP) fell on Friday, with traders attributing the declines to Wall Street Journal report of a U.S. investigation into the sector.
The paper reported that federal prosecutors in Manhattan had opened an investigation into media-buying practices in the advertising industry and had begun issuing subpoenas as part of the probe, citing people familiar with the matter.
Media buying is a highly profitable part of the industry and a previous report in 2016 by the Association of National Advertisers had prompted major advertising buyers to demand better transparency.
Publicis and WPP compete with the likes of Omnicom (N:OMC), Interpublic (N:IPG) and Dentsu (T:4324) in the global advertising industry.