PR Software Company Cision Finalizes $841 Million Acquisition of PR NewsWire

Cision, a media information software and coverage analytics platform, announced it has completed the acquisition of leading press distribution provider PRNewsWire from UBM, a multinational media publishing and events promotion company headquartered in the U.K. The parties initially announced the acquisition agreement in December of last year.

Cision, the leading solution provider for the PR and communications industry, has carried out several deals during the past few years to build a comprehensive and integrated communications solution for more than 100,000 customers around the globe. Acquisitions include Gorkana Group, a U.K-based media intelligence software, and PRWeb, another press release distributor. Cision also owns Help a Reporter Out (HARO), the top platform matching reporters with sources.

PR NewsWire, founded in 1954, is a legacy wire service supplier that has successfully repositioned itself as a targeted and effective digital distribution channel. In an email to customers, Peter Granat, CEO of Cision, commented that “by combining PR Newswire’s services with Cision’s award-winning PR and social software, our clients will receive the industry’s largest content distribution network, influencer outreach, best media monitoring, PR/IR services, multimedia broadcast and analytics offerings.”

For PR NewsWire’s parent company UBM, which will earn $700 million in cash from the deal, the sale of PR NewsWire is part of what the company is calling its “Events First” strategy “UBM is now focused on the attractive, high-growth and high-margin events sector, said Tim Cobbold, chief executive of UBM plc. “We continue in the pursuit of our ambition to become the world’s leading B2B Events business. Responsible for more than 300 B2B events a year, UBM is the second largest exhibitions vendor in the world and the largest independent organizer in the US and China.”