Cision restructures its Scandinavian business together with Infopaq

Cision AB has signed an agreement to sell its Monitor and Analyze business in Sweden and Norway to Infopaq International, a leading company on the Nordic market for Monitor and Analysis services. The transaction will be completed on March 31, 2009 and comprise the legal entities Cision Sverige AB and Cision Norge A/S, excluding the operations for Plan and Connect which will be separated before completion and retained by Cision.

The divested Swedish and Norwegian Monitor and Analyze business of Cision involves about 300 employees, with annual revenues of about SEK 240 million for 2008. Cision’s Nordic business will subsequently consist of the Plan and Connect business in all Nordic countries, as well as a Monitor and Analyze business in Finland and Lithuania. Cision’s new Nordic business will have about 225 employees, with annual revenues of approximately SEK 205 million for 2008.

The purchase price for the divested units is SEK 25 million on a cash and debt free basis, payable 31 March 2010. The divested Swedish and Norwegian businesses were loss-making in 2008 and hence Cision estimates that the divestment will have a positive impact on the group’s operating profit in 2009.

Cision and Infopaq have entered into an agreement whereby the companies will cooperate to offer their Nordic customers a complete service offering consisting of all services within media intelligence - Monitor, Analyze, Plan and Connect. In addition, the parties have entered into an agreement to serve Cision’s customers outside of Sweden and Norway with Monitor and Analysis services from these countries and whereby Infopaq will gain access to Cision’s international Monitor content and Analysis capabilities.

“This divestment is a decisive step in the necessary transformation of our Nordic business, which we believe will not only contribute positively to Cision’s financial performance and global strategy, but also improve the future of the divested business as part of an integrated Infopaq operation. I also strongly believe that our customers will benefit from the combined strengths of the two market leaders joining forces to better meet their needs”, says Hans Gieskes, CEO of the Cision Group.

“This acquisition will give Infopaq vast scale and resources to strengthen our position as a leader for Monitor and Analyze services in the Nordic region. Infopaq in cooperation with Cision will be able to offer customers a complete offering with unique regional reach and depth of content”, says Jacob Meibom, CEO of Infopaq International.

Due to this transaction, Cision’s quarterly report for January-March 2009 will be released May 6 2009.