UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

Schedule 13D

Under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934

(Amendment No. 8)*

CISION LTD.

(Name of Issuer)

Ordinary Shares

(Title of Class of Securities)

G1992S 109

(CUSIP Number)

Canyon Holdings (Cayman), L.P.

c/o GTCR Investment X AIV Ltd.

300 N. LaSalle Street

Suite 5600

Chicago, Illinois 60654

Attention: Jeffrey S. Wright

(312) 382-2200

(Name, Address and Telephone Number of Person Authorized to Receive Notices and Communications)

COPY TO:

Dennis M. Myers, P.C.

Kirkland & Ellis LLP

300 N. LaSalle Street

Chicago, Illinois 60654

(312) 862-2000

November 28, 2018

(Date of Event which Requires Filing of this Statement)

If the filing person has previously filed a statement on Schedule 13G to report the acquisition that is the subject of this Schedule 13D, and is filing this schedule because of §§240.13d-1(e), 240.13d-1(f) or 240.13d-1(g), check the following box. ¨

Note: Schedules filed in paper format shall include a signed original and five copies of the schedule, including all exhibits. See Rule 13d-7 for other parties to whom copies are to be sent.

The information required on the remainder of this cover page shall not be deemed to be “filed” for the purpose of Section 18 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (“Act”) or otherwise subject to the liabilities of that section of the Act but shall be subject to all other provisions of the Act (however, see the Notes).

This Amendment No. 8 amends and supplements the Schedule 13D filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) on July 6, 2017, as amended by Amendment No. 1 filed with the SEC on November 8, 2017, as further amended by Amendment No. 2 filed with the SEC on March 26, 2018, as further amended by Amendment No. 3 filed with the SEC on May 23, 2018, as further amended by Amendment No. 4 as filed with the SEC on June 19, 2018, as further amended by Amendment No. 5 filed with the SEC on July 11, 2018, as further amended by Amendment No. 6 filed with the SEC on September 17, 2018 and as further amended by Amendment No. 7 filed with the SEC on September 21, 2018 (as amended, the “Original Schedule 13D”). Except as set forth herein, the Original Schedule 13D is unmodified and remains in full force and effect. Each capitalized term used but not defined herein has the meaning ascribed to such term in the Original Schedule 13D.

Item 4. Purpose of Transaction.

Item 4 of the Original Schedule 13D is hereby amended and supplemented as follows:

The information set forth in Item 6 of this Schedule 13D is incorporated herein by reference.

Item 5. Interest in Securities of the Issuer.

Items 5(a) and 5(b) of the Original Schedule 13D are hereby amended and restated in their entirety as follows:

(a) The following information is as of the date hereof and assumes there are 132,713,555 Ordinary Shares outstanding based on information set forth in the Issuer’s quarterly report on Form 10-Q filed with the SEC on November 8, 2018.

Holdings is the direct beneficial owner of 50,490,472 Ordinary Shares. The Ordinary Shares held by Holdings represent approximately 38.04% of the Ordinary Shares outstanding as of the date of this Statement.

Canyon Partners, by virtue of its being the general partner of Holdings, may be deemed to possess indirect beneficial ownership of 50,490,472 Ordinary Shares. The Ordinary Shares which may be deemed to be beneficially owned by Canyon Partners represent approximately 38.04% of the Ordinary Shares outstanding as of the date of this Statement.

GTCR AIV is the direct beneficial owner of 893 Ordinary Shares received on account of the Distribution (as defined below). GTCR AIV, by virtue of its being the sole shareholder of Canyon Partners, may be deemed to possess indirect beneficial ownership of the 50,490,472 Ordinary Shares held directly by Holdings. GTCR AIV, by virtue of its being the general partner of GTCR Partners X/A&C AIV LP (“GTCR Partners X AIV”), may also be deemed to possess indirect beneficial ownership of the 457,862 shares received by GTCR Partners X AIV in the Distribution. The Ordinary Shares which may be deemed to be beneficially owned by GTCR AIV represent approximately 38.39% of the Ordinary Shares outstanding as of the date of this Statement.

Decisions of GTCR AIV with respect to the voting and disposition of the Ordinary Shares are made by a vote of a majority of its directors, and, as a result, no single person has voting or dispositive authority over such securities. Messrs. Philip A. Canfield, David A. Donnini, Collin E. Roche, Craig A. Bondy, Constantine S. Mihas, Mark M. Anderson, Aaron D. Cohen, Sean L. Cunningham, Benjamin J. Daverman and Lawrence C. Fey are each managing directors of GTCR LLC, which provides management services to GTCR AIV, and each disclaims beneficial ownership of the securities held by GTCR AIV, except to the extent of his pecuniary interest in such securities. The filing of this Statement shall not be construed as an admission that any such individual is, for the purpose of Section 13(d) or 13(g) of the Exchange Act, the beneficial owner of any securities covered by this Statement.

(b) By virtue of the relationship among the Reporting Persons described in Item 2 of the Original Schedule 13D, each such Reporting Person may be deemed to share the power to vote or direct the vote and to share the power to dispose of or direct the disposition of the 50,949,227 Ordinary Shares as set forth in rows 7 through 13 of the cover pages of this Statement.

Item 6. Contracts, Arrangements, Understandings or Relationships with Respect to Securities of the Issuer

Item 6 of the Original Schedule 13D is hereby amended by inserting the following as a new paragraph at the end of Item 6:

Pro Rata Distribution of Issuer Securities by Holdings

On November 28, 2018, Holdings made a pro rata distribution (the “Distribution”) of 5,000,000 Ordinary Shares to its partners for no consideration. The Distribution was made pursuant to an effective registration statement on Form S-3 (Reg. No. 333-221792) and as a result, Ordinary Shares received by non-affiliates of the Issuer in the Distribution are immediately eligible for resale to the public.

In connection with the Distribution, GTCR AIV received 893 Ordinary Shares and GTCR Partners X AIV received 457,862 Ordinary Shares. As a result, GTCR AIV became the direct beneficial owner of 893 Ordinary Shares and continues to report indirect beneficial ownership of the 457,862 Ordinary Shares received by GTCR Partners X AIV. All such Ordinary Shares were previously reported as indirectly owned by GTCR AIV through Holdings.

Item 7. Material to be Filed as Exhibits

SIGNATURES

After reasonable inquiry and to the best of each of the undersigned’s knowledge and belief, each of the undersigned certify that the information set forth in this statement is true, complete and correct.

Date: December 4, 2018

Exhibit 1

SCHEDULE 13D JOINT FILING AGREEMENT

In accordance with the requirements of Rule 13d-1(k) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and subject to the limitations set forth therein, the parties set forth below agree to jointly file the Schedule 13D to which this joint filing agreement is attached, and have duly executed this joint filing agreement as of the date set forth below.

Date: December 4, 2018