Chicago's Cision picks up PR Newswire in $841M deal

by Sam Dewey
December 15, 2015

Chicago-based

, a media intelligence company that provides PR and social media software, analytics, and insights to over 100,000 customers worldwide, announced Tuesday the proposed agreement to acquire PR Newswire from UBM for $841 — $810 million in cash, and the remaining $31 million in the form of preferred equity, according to UBM.

The deal is expected to close in the first quarter of 2016, once it has been approved by UBM shareholders.

"Bringing Cision and PR Newswire together will enable communicators to turn data into actionable insights — the necessary link between communications and business outcomes," said Peter Granat, Cision CEO, in a statement. "We are serious about building a comprehensive platform to help our clients manage the entire lifecycle of communications – from influencer discovery and content distribution to engagement and campaign analysis."

According to Cision, the marriage of the two company’s resources engenders a “seamless and integrated communications tool” for all steps of the news release cycle, from intelligence gathering and distribution efforts to performance monitoring and analytics.

Meanwhile, the sale of PRN allows UBM to focus on its "Events First" strategy as the corporate events industry — from planning to ancillary event tech platforms —  continues to boom.

Upon the transaction’s completion, UBM said £245 million ($372 million) will be returned to shareholders in a special dividend.

Cision’s customers are scattered across the globe, with international offices in Canada, U.K., France, Germany, Portugal, Sweden, Finland and China.

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