Cision Ltd. is a

public relations Public relations (PR) is the practice of managing and disseminating information from an individual or an organization (such as a business, government agency, or a nonprofit organization) to the public in order to influence their perception. ...

and

earned media Earned media (or free media) refers to publicity gained through promotional efforts other than advertising ( paid media) or branding (owned media). Background There are many types of media available to online marketers and fit into the broad ca ...

software company A software company is a company whose primary products are various forms of software, software technology, distribution, and software product development. They make up the software industry. Types There are a number of different types of soft ...

and services provider. The company is incorporated in the Cayman Islands and headquartered in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rockf ...

; with clients worldwide. The company went public via

reverse merger A reverse takeover (RTO), reverse merger, or reverse IPO is the acquisition of a public company by a private company so that the private company can bypass the lengthy and complex process of going public. Sometimes, conversely, the public compa ...

in June 2017. In addition to its web-based PR and earned media

software as a service Software as a service (SaaS ) is a software licensing and delivery model in which software is licensed on a subscription basis and is centrally hosted. SaaS is also known as "on-demand software" and Web-based/Web-hosted software. SaaS is con ...

(SaaS) suite the Cision Communications Cloud, the company owns online publicity and media services

PRNewswire PR Newswire is a distributor of press releases headquartered in Chicago. The service was created in 1954 to allow companies to electronically send press releases to news organizations, using teleprinters at first. The founder, Herbert Muschel, ...

, PRWeb, Bulletin Intelligence, L'Argus de la presse,

Help a Reporter Out Help a Reporter Out (HARO) is an online service for journalists to obtain feedback from the public. It enables journalists to connect with experts in issues relevant to their reporting. It was founded as a Facebook Facebook is an online ...

(HARO), CEDROM-SNI, Prime Research, and

Canada Newswire CNW Group Ltd., also called Canada Newswire and CNW, is a commercial press release service owned by Cision. Cision Distribution services in Canada are powered by Canada Newswire. The service is offered stand-alone or as part of its flagshiCision ...

. The company operates in the United States, Canada, Europe and Asia. Company is led by Brandon Crawley, Interim CEO & Managing Director

Platinum Equity Platinum Equity, LLC is an American private equity investment firm founded by Tom Gores in 1995. The firm focuses on leveraged buyout investments of established companies in the U.S., Europe and Asia. History Platinum Equity was founded in 199 ...

Products and services

Cision provides

services to businesses, using a

cloud-based Cloud computing is the on-demand availability of computer system resources, especially data storage (cloud storage) and computing power, without direct active management by the user. Large clouds often have functions distributed over mult ...

, or

(SaaS) model. The company offers

social media Social media are interactive media technologies that facilitate the creation and sharing of information, ideas, interests, and other forms of expression through virtual communities and networks. While challenges to the definition of ''social medi ...

monitoring and engagement and media publicity services. Cision's software is distributed in seven languages. , it is used by more than 16,000 annual subscribers worldwide, including commercial businesses and governmental, educational and non-profit organizations.

Software

The company offers three web-based packages: the "CisionMarketing Suite", the "Public Relations Suite" and a "Government Relations and Political Action Committee Suite". The Cision "Public Relations Suite" allows users to distribute press releases, access a database of bloggers and journalists (with no option to opt-out), and monitor and analyze news and social media sites. The company's "Government Relations Suite" manages government contacts, analyzes lobbying activity, facilitates communication with elected officials and provides PAC compliance software for filing reports to the FEC and state elections commissions.

Services

Through a series of acquisitions, the company provides services in PRWeb, HARO, North Social, Eureka, and Media Insight Suite which Cision has continued to operate under the existing

brand A brand is a name, term, design, symbol or any other feature that distinguishes one seller's good or service from those of other sellers. Brands are used in business, marketing, and advertising for recognition and, importantly, to create ...

names. Vocus also offers

consulting A consultant (from la, consultare "to deliberate") is a professional (also known as ''expert'', ''specialist'', see variations of meaning below) who provides advice and other purposeful activities in an area of specialization. Consulting servic ...

services to support the use of its software products. PRWeb is an online

press release A press release is an official statement delivered to members of the news media for the purpose of providing information, creating an official statement, or making an announcement directed for public release. Press releases are also considere ...

service. PRWeb services are available through the "Vocus Marketing Suite," the "Vocus PR Suite" or as a separate service.

History

In 2011, Cision AB sold its Finnish subsidiary Oy Cision Finland AB to M-Brain Group. On September 15, 2014, Cision announced the acquisition of Visible Technologies, a social media analytics company. On October 14, 2014, Cision AB and Vocus announced a "friendly merger" of the two public relations companies. Cision based in Sweden will relocate its headquarters to Chicago and so will Vocus from Maryland, United States. The company will be based out of Chicago and the combined entity will be known as Cision. During 2015, Cision also acquired UK company Gorkana. Gorkana offered monitoring, journalist database and analysis services. On December 15, 2015, Cision agreed to acquire

from

UBM plc UBM plc was a British business-to-business (B2B) events organiser headquartered in London, England, before its acquisition by Informa in 2018. It had a long history as a multinational media company. Its main focus was on B2B events, but its pr ...

for $841 million (approx. £575 million). On June 29, 2017, Cision went public via its reverse merger with special purpose acquisition company Capitol Acquisition Corporation III. On December 26, 2017, Cision agreed to acquire PRIME Research. The acquisition was completed on January 24, 2018. On January 31, 2020, Platinum Equity completed its acquisition of Cision Ltd for $2.7 billion making it private again. In September 2020, Cision named Abel Clark as CEO, replacing interim chief Brandon Crawley. Prior to the appointment, Clark was CEO of TruSight. Cision announced the acquisition of Brandwatch in February 2021 for $450 million. Brandon Crawley returned as interim CEO in February 2022. In April 2022, Cision acquired Streem, an Australia-based realtime media monitoring company. In November 2022, Cision acquired Factmata, a media monitoring and analytics technology company.

References

External links