A BRIGHTON company has been taken over by PR and social media marketing giant in a $450 million deal.

Cision announced today that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Brandwatch, a company formed in the city, in a multi-million dollar deal.

The deal, expected to close in the second quarter of 2021, will create a powerhouse across PR, marketing, and digital customer engagement.

Brandwatch's AI-powered deep social listening and content marketing analytics products help over 2,000 of the world's most admired brands and agencies.

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The combination, with Cision, a PR and marketing giant, is said to provide brands and organisations with consumer and media intelligence.

Giles Palmer, founder and CEO of Brandwatch said: "We have always built Brandwatch with ambition. That was recognized by Forrester, who recently named us as a leader in our space.

"Now is the time to take the next step - joining a company of significant scale to create a business and a suite of products that can have an important global impact.

"We are excited to join Abel and the Cision team to supercharge our work and bring even more value to our customers."

Cision boasts a media contact database of approximately 1 million journalists and media outlets and over 75,000 customers.

Abel Clark, CEO of Cision said: "The continued digital shift and widespread adoption of social media is rapidly and fundamentally changing how brands and organizations engage with their customers.

"This is driving the imperative that PR, marketing, social and customer care teams fully incorporate the unique insights now available into consumer-led strategies.

"Together, Cision and Brandwatch will help our clients to more deeply understand, connect and engage with their customers at scale across every channel."