Cision Pre-Releases Select Preliminary Unaudited Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2017 Results; Provides Initial Full Year 2018 Outlook

Full Year 2017 Preliminary Unaudited Financial Results

We expect our net debt as of December 31, 2017 to be approximately $1,183 million. We derive net debt by taking our total debt outstanding and subtracting our cash balance. As of December 31, 2017, our total debt outstanding was approximately $1,331.6 million and our cash balance was approximately $148.7 million. We used approximately $75 million of cash in connection with our closing of the acquisition of PRIME Research on January 23, 2018.

"We are pleased to have delivered strong preliminary results for the fourth quarter," said Kevin Akeroyd, Cision's Chief Executive Officer. "We continue to focus our efforts on delivering best-in-class products and services to our customers, executing on our remaining synergies, and driving towards our long-term financial goals and objectives. This focus helped drive our fourth quarter organic growth rate to approximately 2.6%, after adjusting for non-core revenues, approximately $0.4 million of revenue from CEDROM-SNi and the impact of currency."

Cision has not yet finalized its financial statement close process for the quarter ended December 31, 2017, nor has it finalized its assessment of the impact of the recent tax legislation. As a result, the information in this statement is preliminary and based upon information available to the Company as of the date of the statement. In connection with the finalization process and the incorporation of the impact of the recent tax legislation, Cision may identify items that would require adjustments to its preliminary financial results announced herein. The Company's financial results could be different, and those differences could be material.

Full Year 2018 Outlook

Our initial outlook for the full fiscal year ending December 31, 2018 appears below:

Additionally, for the full fiscal year ending December 31, 2018, Cision expects:

The above outlook assumes the completion of our First Lien Senior Secured Term Loan repricing, LIBOR of approximately 1.5%, and EURIBOR of approximately 0%, the inclusion of a full year of results from our acquisition of CEDROM-SNi, and the inclusion of 11 months of results from our acquisition of PRIME Research. CEDROM-SNi's revenues for the 12 months ended December 31, 2017 were approximately $15 million, and PRIME Research's revenues for the 12 months ended December 31, 2017 were approximately $45 million. The above outlook also assumes the following exchange rates with respect to the British Pound, the Euro and the Canadian Dollar for fiscal year 2018:

Additionally, our outlook for 2018 excludes any additional acquisitions, divestitures, or other unanticipated events. See discussion of non-GAAP financial measures below in this release.

Fourth Quarter 2017 Earnings Release and Conference Call Details

Cision expects to release its full year and fourth quarter 2017 financial and operating results on March 8, 2018. The Company plans to hold a conference call in connection with the above referenced release. The conference call will be simultaneously webcast on the Investor Relations section of the company's website: http://investors.cision.com

Forward-Looking Statements

This communication contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. In this context, forward-looking statements often address expected future business and financial performance and financial condition, and often contain words such as "anticipate," "intend," "plan," "goal," "seek," "aim," "strive," "believe," "see," "project," "predict," "estimate," "expect," "continue," "strategy," "future," "likely," "may," "might," "should," "will," "would," "target," similar expressions, and variations or negatives of these words. Forward-looking statements are neither historical facts nor assurances of future performance. Instead, they are based only on our current beliefs, expectations, and assumptions regarding the future of our business, future plans and strategies, projections, anticipated events and trends, the economy, and other future conditions. Because forward-looking statements relate to the future, they are subject to inherent uncertainties, risks, and changes in circumstances that are difficult to predict and many of which are outside of our control. Accordingly, you should not place undue reliance on these statements, as actual results may vary materially. A detailed discussion of some of the risks and uncertainties that could cause our actual results and financial condition to differ materially from the forward-looking statements is described under the caption "Risk Factors" in our most recent quarterly report on Form 10-Q filed on November 9, 2017, along with our other filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Any forward-looking statement made by us in this communication is based only on information currently available to us and speaks only as of the date of this report. We do not assume any obligation to publicly provide revisions or updates to any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise, should circumstances change, except as otherwise required by securities and other applicable laws. Please consult our public filings at www.sec.gov or www.Cision.com.

Use of Non-GAAP Financial Measures

Non-GAAP results are presented only as a supplement to our financial statements based on US generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP). Non-GAAP financial information is provided to enhance the reader's understanding of our financial performance, but none of these non-GAAP financial measures are recognized terms under GAAP, and non-GAAP measures should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for financial measures calculated in accordance with GAAP. Reconciliations of the most directly comparable GAAP measures to non-GAAP measures, such as Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted net income per share, are provided in the schedules below in this release. We use non-GAAP measures in our operational and financial decision-making, believing that it is useful to exclude certain items in order to focus on what we deem to be a more reliable indicator of ongoing operating performance and our ability to generate cash flow from operations. As a result, internal management reports used during monthly operating reviews include Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted net income per share. Additionally, we believe that the presentation of non-GAAP measures provides information that is useful to investors as it indicates, for example, our ability to meet capital expenditures and working capital requirements and otherwise meet our obligations as they become due. Investors are cautioned that non-GAAP financial measures are not a substitute for GAAP disclosures. This communication also includes certain forward-looking non-GAAP financial measures. We are unable to present without unreasonable efforts a reconciliation of forward-looking non-GAAP financial information to the corresponding GAAP financial information because management cannot reliably predict all of the necessary information. Forward-looking non-GAAP financial information is based on numerous assumptions, including assumptions with respect to general business, economic, market, regulatory and financial conditions and various other factors, all of which are difficult to predict and many of which are beyond our control. Accordingly, investors are cautioned not to place undue reliance on this information.

Non-GAAP measures are frequently used by securities analysts, investors, and other interested parties in their evaluation of companies comparable to Cision, many of which present non-GAAP measures when reporting their results. These measures can be useful in evaluating our performance against our peer companies because we believe the measures provide users with valuable insight into key components of GAAP financial disclosures. However, non-GAAP measures have limitations as an analytical tool. Non-GAAP measures are not necessarily comparable to similarly titled measures used by other companies. They are not presentations made in accordance with GAAP, are not measures of financial condition or liquidity, and should not be considered as an alternative to profit or loss for the period determined in accordance with GAAP or operating cash flows determined in accordance with GAAP. As a result, you should not consider such performance measures in isolation from, or as a substitute analysis for, results of operations as determined in accordance with GAAP.

About Cision
Cision Ltd. (NYSE: CISN) is a leading global provider of earned media software and services to public relations and marketing communications professionals. Cision's software allows users to identify key influencers, craft and distribute strategic content, and measure meaningful impact. Cision has over 3,000 employees with offices in 15 countries throughout the Americas, EMEA, and APAC. For more information about its award-winning products and services, including the Cision Communications Cloud®, visit www.cision.com and follow Cision on Twitter @Cision.

Investor Contact:
Jack Pearlstein
Chief Financial Officer
Jack.Pearlstein@Cision.com

Media Contact:
Nick Bell
Vice President, Marketing Communications and Content
nick.bell@cision.com

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