Mitel becomes $1bn giant following Aastra buy

Comms vendor claims latest addition will help it tighten its grip on the comms market

Mitel has gobbled Canadian rival Aastra in a move which will propel its annual sales past the $1bn (£61m) mark.

The deal, for an undisclosed amount, sees Mitel's diversified annual revenue reach $1.1bn and the firm now boasts 60 million customers and 2,500 channel partners.

The vendor claims its new buy presents it with a massive growth opportunity as the market eyes a long-term migration into cloud services.

"We now have double the talent, tools and range of solutions to aggressively compete for a greater share of our market," said Richard McBee, Mitel's president.

"We believe [the merger] creates the financial scale and operational leverage to drive shareholder value and profitable growth in an opportunity-rich, consolidating market."

The firm added that with Aastra, its research and development budget surpasses the $100m mark, which will support innovation and products.

As part of the acquisition, Mitel secured a $405m credit facility, which its chief financial officer Steve Spooner said increases the business's flexibility.

"Our new capital structure, combined with the enhanced cash flow generation we expect from the merger, positions Mitel with one of the best financial platforms in the industry," he said.

The credit consists of a $355m long-term loan which is expected to mature in 2020 and an extra $50m credit facility which matures a year earlier.

"We are pleased to have secured new credit facilities on these very favourable terms, which significantly reduces our annual interest cost and enhances our operating flexibility," added Spooner.