Cision has inked a deal to acquire PR Newswire for $841M from UBM, after months of speculation as the London-based publisher and trade events producer sought a buyer of the profitable news disseminator.
The price tag includes $810M in cash and $31M in equity. Cision is owned by the private equity firm GTCR, which has cobbled together Cision, Vocus and Gorkana Group to create a PR services powerhouse.
UBM was expected to garner more than $700M for PRN and Cision was among reported suitors of the unit.
With the deal, Cision adds a legacy news dissemination service to its tech-based offerings, which include the low-cost PRweb, as well as Gorkana's and Cision's own PR platforms. Parent GTCR bought Vocus in 2014 in a $446.5M deal.
The sale will have to clear US regulators and UBM shareholders but is expected to close in the first quarter of Q1. A special dividend of around $371M will go to existing shareholders.
PRN CEO Robert Gray said the company's combination with Cision will provide customers "an unparalleled breadth of solutions enabling communicators to be efficient, data-driven and accountable."
Cision chief Peter Granat added PRN's "outstanding reputation and global reach" add a new dimension to the company.
When executed properly, PSAs have unique staying power and register with the viewer on a much different level than mere ads trying to sell something, explained 4media group chief client officer Laura Pair at the Mid-Atlantic MarCom Summit Oct. 9 in Washington, D.C.
Demystifying wire services, online only options & content syndication.
Join Shauna Nuckles of Advocation and Tony Cheevers of Researchscape as they discuss the potential of productized PR services during an O'Dwyer's recorded webinar. Discover insider strategies and real-world examples of productized service offerings.
SaaS platforms now allow businesses to effectively manage and execute their own PR campaigns, putting pressure on agencies to demonstrate the value of the “traditional” PR model.
