Cision

Cision Ltd.
Cision
TypePrivate
IndustryTechnology
Predecessor
Founded1867; 159 years ago (1867)
Headquarters
Chicago, Illinois
,
United States
Area served
Worldwide
Key people
  • Guy Abramo (CEO)
ProductsMarketing and public relations software & services
Services
Number of employees
4,927 (2025)
ParentPlatinum Equity
Subsidiaries
Websitecision.com

Cision Ltd. is a public relations and earned media software company and services provider. The company is incorporated in the Cayman Islands and headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. Cision offers a portfolio of services, including PRNewswire, PRWeb, Brandwatch, and Canada Newswire.

Products and services

Cision provides public relations services to businesses. The company offers social media monitoring and engagement and media publicity services.

Cision's software is distributed in seven languages. As of June 2014, it was 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 the "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 analyse news and social media sites. The company's "Government Relations Suite" manages government contacts, analyses 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, Vocus, and Media Insight Suite which Cision has continued to operate under the existing brand names.

PRWeb is an online press release service. PRWeb services are available through the "Vocus Marketing Suite", the "Vocus PR Suite" or as a separate service.

History

Vocus was founded in 1992 by Rick Rudman and Bob Lentz in Maryland. Originally developing software to help political organizations manage donors and contacts, the company expanded into public relations software in 1997 and shifted from packaged products to internet-delivered software in 1999.

In 2005, Vocus raised $45 million through an initial public offering.

In 2011, Cision AB sold its Finnish subsidiary Oy Cision Finland AB to M-Brain Group.

In April 2014, following a net loss of $21.8 million in 2013, Vocus agreed to be acquired by private equity firm GTCR for $446.5 million. The acquisition was completed in May, and GTCR planned to combine Vocus with Cision AB.

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 based in Maryland, United States. The company will be based in Chicago and the combined entity will be known as Cision.

In 2015, the UK's Competition and Markets Authority raised concerns that the acquisition of Gorkana could reduce competition in the market for media contact databases. To address the concerns, the UK operations of Cision and Vocus were sold to Access Intelligence's Vuelio business in June 2015.

In 2016, Cision's acquisition of PR Newswire faced antitrust scrutiny over competition in media contact databases. As part of the approval process, PR Newswire's Agility media intelligence business was divested to Innodata subsidiary MediaMiser in July 2016.

On June 29, 2017, Cision went public via its reverse merger with special purpose acquisition company Capitol Acquisition Corporation III.

In September 2020, Cision named Abel Clark as CEO, replacing interim chief Brandon Crawley. Prior to the appointment, Clark was CEO of TruSight.

Brandon Crawley returned as interim CEO in February 2022.

In January 2023, Cali Tran joined as CEO. In June 2023, Cision launched CisionOne, an AI powered platform.

In July 2024, Dow Jones & Co. filed a lawsuit against Cision for a breach of contract. In September 2025, the companies announced that they had settled the lawsuit on confidential terms.

Guy Abramo was named CEO on January 15, 2025, replacing Cali Tran.

In January 2025, Bloomberg News reported that negotiations between Cision and a group of lenders over a debt restructuring had broken down after disagreements over proposed debt-exchange terms. In April, a Cision affiliate arranged a $250 million lifeline.

Acquisitions

Date Company Details
August 2006 PRWeb Vocus acquired the online press release distribution service for $28 million in cash and stock.
June 2010 Help a Reporter Out (HARO) Vocus acquired the service connecting journalists with potential sources.
February 2011 Engine 140 Vocus acquired the developer of Twitter marketing software.
February 2011 North Social Vocus acquired the Facebook marketing application developer for $7 million in cash, with potential additional earnout payments.
February 2012 iContact Vocus acquired the email marketing software company for $169 million in cash and stock.
15 September 2014 Visible Technologies Social media analytics company; Cision announced its acquisition.
2015 Gorkana UK company offering media monitoring, journalist databases and analysis services.
March 2015 Viralheat Social media monitoring and sentiment analysis software introduced in 2009. The developer raised $4.25 million in venture capital in 2011. A 2013 review by Network World praised its low cost and ease of use but found its reporting and analytics limited. Cision acquired the 25-person company to expand its social media offerings.
15 December 2015 PRNewswire Cision agreed to acquire the company from UBM plc for $841 million (approximately £575 million).
2017–2018 PRIME Research Cision agreed to acquire the company on 26 December 2017 and completed the acquisition on 24 January 2018.
31 January 2020 Cision Ltd. Acquired by Platinum Equity for $2.7 billion, returning Cision to private ownership.
February 2021 Brandwatch Cision announced the acquisition for $450 million.
April 2022 Streem Australia-based real-time media monitoring company.
November 2022 Factmata Media monitoring and analytics technology company.

References

  1. ↑ 3rd quarter 2018 10-Q filed with the SEC
  2. 1 2 3 Brad Kelly (16 September 2008). "VOCUS INC. Lanham, Maryland PR Software Helps Companies Polish Their Image With Efficiency". Investor's Business Daily. Retrieved 25 January 2013.
  3. 1 2 Gus G. Sentementes (13 October 2012). "Vocus tackles digital marketing, hires hundreds". The Baltimore Sun. Retrieved 24 January 2013.
  4. 1 2 3 Susan Payton (8 July 2012). "Vocus: Small Businesses Shouldn't Have to Piecemeal Their Marketing". Small Business Trends. Retrieved 24 January 2013.
  5. ↑ Tanya Lewis (2012-04-30). "Vocus' PR suite info is user friendly and easy to export". PRWeek US. Retrieved 1 April 2013.
  6. ↑ "Vocus Inc. Company Information". D&B Hoovers. Retrieved 9 April 2013.
  7. ↑ "From Vocus to PR Newswire, how Cision built its empire". PrWeek.com. 15 December 2015. Retrieved 2024-07-19.
  8. ↑ "Vocus pays $28M in cash and stock for PRWeb". Washington Business Journal. 2006-08-08. Retrieved 2013-01-24.
  9. ↑ Nichols, Kate N. (September 2006). "Pioneering company takes its next step Ferndale's PRWeb sold to national company". Business Pulse Magazine. {{cite news}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help)CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
  10. ↑ Sara Kehaulani Goo (27 June 2001). "Vocus Is the Envy Of Tech Start-Ups; Software Firm Has Clients and a Plan". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 25 January 2013 – via HighBeam Research.
  11. ↑ Anita Huslin (27 August 2007). "Vocus Puts Playtime on the Agenda". The Washington Post. Retrieved 25 January 2013.
  12. ↑ "Vocus raises $45M in stock offering". Baltimore Business Journal. 7 December 2005. Retrieved 24 January 2013.
  13. ↑ "M-Brain Group's Corporate History". Archived from the original on 2013-03-02.
  14. ↑ Overly, Steven (7 April 2014). "Vocus, a Beltsville-based marketing software firm, agrees to private-equity takeover". The Washington Post.
  15. ↑ Ravindranath, Mohana (6 June 2014). "After acquisition, the future of Beltsville PR firm Vocus turns cloudy". The Washington Post.
  16. 1 2 "Cision and Vocus Unite, Ushering in the Future of PR and Social Software". www.cision.com. Retrieved 2015-05-04.
  17. ↑ Communicator, Capitol (February 2015). "Cision to Retire Vocus Name". Capitol Communicator. Archived from the original on 2015-04-27. Retrieved 2015-05-04.
  18. ↑ "From Vocus to PR Newswire, how Cision built its empire". PRWeek. 15 December 2015.
  19. ↑ "Vuelio acquires Cision's UK operations for £1.3 million". PRWeek. 24 June 2015.
  20. ↑ "PR Newswire Sells Off Agility". O'Dwyer's. 12 May 2016.
  21. ↑ Gingerich, Jon (15 July 2016). "MediaMiser Completes Agility Acquisition". O'Dwyer's.
  22. ↑ MarketScreener (2017-06-29). "Cision, Inc. completed the acquisition of Capitol Acquisition Corp. III in a reverse merger transaction. -June 28, 2017 | MarketScreener". www.marketscreener.com. Retrieved 2024-02-13.
  23. ↑ "Cision names Thomson Reuters' Abel Clark its new CEO". www.bizjournals.com. Retrieved 2020-09-22.
  24. 1 2 Jay, Corli (31 January 2023). "Cision names new CEO". Crain's Chicago Business. Retrieved 13 February 2024.
  25. ↑ "Cision Announces Cali Tran as New CEO". Retrieved 1 February 2023.
  26. ↑ Bach, Natasha. "Cision launches AI-powered platform CisionOne". www.prweek.com. Retrieved 2024-02-13.
  27. ↑ Bradley, Diana (15 July 2024). "Dow Jones files lawsuit against Cision for contract breach". prweek.com. Retrieved 2024-07-17.
  28. ↑ "Dow Jones and Cision Resolve Ongoing Litigation" (Press release). Cision. 12 September 2025.
  29. ↑ "Cision names Guy Abramo CEO". PR Week. Retrieved 6 May 2025.
  30. ↑ Basu, Reshmi (24 January 2025). "Platinum-Backed PR Software Firm Cision Halts Lender Talks". Bloomberg News.
  31. ↑ Baker, Cameron (14 April 2025). "Cision Affiliate Gets $250m Financing, Extends Debt Maturities". Bloomberg Law.
  32. ↑ "Vocus buys PR Web to distribute online". The Washington Times. 28 August 2006. Retrieved 24 January 2013.
  33. ↑ Barb Dybwad (10 June 2010). "Vocus Acquires HARO to Expand Journalist-Driven PR Service". Mashable. Retrieved 24 January 2013.
  34. ↑ Jeff Clabaugh (8 February 2011). "Vocus acquires Engine 140". Washington Business Journal. Retrieved 24 January 2013.
  35. ↑ Robin Wauters (25 February 2011). "Vocus Buys Facebook Apps Maker North Social For $7M In Cash + $18M Earnout". TechCrunch. Retrieved 24 January 2013.
  36. ↑ David Ranii (29 February 2012). "Marketing firm buys Triangle's iContact". The News & Observer. Retrieved 24 January 2013.
  37. ↑ "Cision and Vocus Announce Acquisition of Visible Technologies". Cision. Retrieved 2016-06-29.
  38. ↑ Odell, Mark (22 October 2014). "Media monitoring group Gorkana acquired in £200m deal". Financial Times. Retrieved 2020-09-22.
  39. ↑ Rao, Leena (May 25, 2009). "Viralheat Measures And Analyzes Real-Time Content On Twitter, YouTube And More". TechCrunch. Retrieved January 12, 2013.
  40. ↑ Empson, Rip (June 28, 2011). "Viralheat Grabs $4.25 Million For Affordable Social Media Tracking And Intelligence". TechCrunch. Retrieved January 12, 2013.
  41. ↑ Strom, David (March 25, 2013). "How to tell if your Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn Efforts are Paying Off". Network World. Retrieved April 19, 2013.
  42. ↑ Liyakasa, Kelly (23 March 2015). "Content Marketing Consolidation Continues, As Cision Grabs Viralheat". AdExchanger.
  43. ↑ "Chicago-based Cision to buy PR Newswire for $841 million". Chicago Tribune. Archived from the original on 2015-12-15. Retrieved 2016-01-06.
  44. ↑ "Today's Stock Market News and Analysis from Nasdaq.com". NASDAQ.com. Retrieved 15 June 2018.
  45. ↑ "Cision Completes Acquisition of PRIME Research". StreetInsider. Retrieved 15 June 2018.
  46. ↑ "Platinum Equity Completes $2.7 Billion Acquisition Of Cision Ltd". PR Newswire (Press release). Retrieved 2021-09-22.
  47. ↑ Butcher, Mike (26 February 2021). "Brandwatch is acquired by Cision for $450M, creating a PR, marketing and social listening giant". TechCrunch. Retrieved 1 March 2021.
  48. ↑ "Cision Completes Acquisition of Streem". PR Newswire (Press release). Retrieved 19 May 2022.
  49. ↑ "Cision Acquires Media Monitoring & Technology Leader Factmata". PR News. 17 November 2022. Retrieved 20 December 2022.