Access Intelligence Plc acquires PULSAR to accelerate social media capability

Access Intelligence Plc, the AIM listed technology innovator delivering Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) solutions for the PR, communications and marketing industries, has acquired Pulsar in a stock swap acquisition with Cello Health plc, previous owners of Pulsar.

Pulsar is the leading insights and social listening solution using AI to analyse conversational and behavioural social media data to help brands understand their audiences and create impactful content.

In 2018, the global market for expert media intelligence information grew 13.6% to $4.13 billion. Access Intelligence’s revenue in the first six months to 31 May 2019 increased by 42 per cent to £6.2 million, with a pre-acquisition market capitalisation of £33million.

Pulsar will join the Access Intelligence portfolio of products that enable businesses to understand, target and engage key opinion leaders according to their brand, product or industry. This includes Vuelio, the platform that helps organisations to make their stories matter; and ResponseSource, a network connecting journalists and influencers to the resources they need fast.

The deal will drive improvements in the Group capability, notably in trend forecasting, social listening, audience segmentation and marketing evaluation. The combined customer base will now include more than 3,500 global brands, and Group headcount will now number over 200 across London and the US.

Pulsar has been acquired for £4.5m in the transaction between Access Intelligence and Cello, who have shareholders in common. It reflects Access Intelligence’s growth strategy to provide a networked integrated communications platform through a highly scalable SaaS model. As part of the deal, Cello Health plc will retain an interest in Pulsar through Consideration Shares and continue to promote to its client base.

Joanna Arnold, CEO of Access Intelligence, commented: “Pulsar is the best enterprise social intelligence platform in the market and a great addition to the Access Intelligence Group. This acquisition will enable us to keep our clients ahead in a world where influence shifts in real-time across multiple channels.

“Clear-cut navigation of global and national issues is ever more critical, made more challenging by the barrage of information across social channels. Organisations need market leading insight and intelligence to cut through this noise to find the information needed. And that’s why we sustain investment in our proposition.

“Today, Vuelio and ResponseSource products provide market leading monitoring, insight, engagement and evaluation tools that will be improved by the addition of Pulsar, which will deliver significantly improved social media capability. This is a very exciting next step in the journey of Access Intelligence to improve the relationship between business, government, media and the public, contributing to a world of open and effective communication.”

Francesco D’Orazio, CEO of Pulsar, commented: “Joining the Access Intelligence Group will allow us to create a proposition directly connecting insight generation and marketing strategy, while unlocking opportunities to reach new audiences. Pulsar and the Access Intelligence Group are strong believers in the power of data-driven insights to accelerate growth, and in embedding the audience in every aspect of a company’s decision making. Bringing our companies together will enable us to deliver this vision into the future.”