Private equity firm GTCR late last month closed its $446.5 million acquisition of Vocus, the Maryland based provider of PR and marketing software.
After taking Vocus private, GTCR Canyon, an affiliate of the Chicago, Co.-based GTCR, announced early this month it intends to combine Vocus with its rival Cision — the PR software company for which the GTCR affiliate challenged the Meltwater Group in a bidding war at the end of April.
The merger would benefit Cision and Vocus customers with a comprehensive influencer database, a news distribution service, media monitoring and analytics tools and Vocus’ marketing automation platform, according to a June statement.
The move installed Cision Chief Executive Peter Granat at the helm of the fused entity. Rick Rudman, Vocus’ co-founder and chief executive, quietly resigned in May, according to the Washington Post. Granat is also serving as president of the GTCR affiliate, Canyon Holdings.
“Combining Cision and Vocus will allow us to leverage each company’s strengths across a larger combined customer base, accelerate investment in innovative functionality and increase adoption of public relations and marketing software worldwide,” said GTCR Managing Director Mark Anderson. “With visionary leadership, smart investments and a relentless focus on customers, we believe the new organization enables us to capitalize on the significant growth opportunities in the public relations and marketing software industry.”
GTCR typically invests in the financial services & technology, information services & technology, healthcare and growth business services industries. WashingtonExec last covered GTCR in October when CAC International, Inc. acquired Six3 Systems, Inc., a company formerly held by GTCR. Read about the expansion here.
