Mitel, a global leader in business communications, today announced the completion of its acquisition of ShoreTel. With this addition, Mitel has accelerated its move-to-the-cloud strategy, shifting into the #2 market share position for UCaaS globally* as customers worldwide look for cloud and cloud-capable solutions to digitally transform their businesses.Seamless and simple cloud communications and collaboration solutions for customers
“Digital transformation is rapidly changing business models in every industry and every corner of the globe, opening the door to disruptive opportunities for companies to grow and compete. For businesses, moving to a cloud communications and collaboration system inside their own organisations is a natural first step on their digital transformation journey,” said Rich McBee, President and Chief Executive Officer of Mitel.
“Mitel and ShoreTel are now stronger together and even better equipped to help take our customers to the cloud, seamlessly and simply.”
Stronger together with rich cloud culture and offering
With the market moving further and faster to a cloud footing, McBee highlighted the success ShoreTel’s management team and employees have had in transforming their business to meet changing customer needs and delivering an exceptional customer experience.
“In an apps economy and IoT world that depends on real-time communications, providing an agile, responsive and brilliantly simple customer experience becomes wildly important,” said McBee.
“Don Joos and the entire ShoreTel team have institutionalised and mobilised that mantra, and put in place a cloud-first portfolio we are excited to take to customers globally, and a cloud-culture and organisation we are thrilled to embrace and expand in Mitel.”
Stronger together, with highly complementary cloud architectures, Mitel expects to share the vision for its integrated cloud and applications technologies early in 2018.
Seamless solutions to take all customers to the cloud with lifecycle support
Consistent with Mitel’s vision of providing customers with seamless communications and collaboration, a design philosophy of always providing customers a technology path to the future, and a corporate commitment to ensuring business continuity, Mitel and ShoreTel customers and partners can continue to count on the same cloud and on-site solutions they always have. Mitel will provide ongoing service and support for all products throughout their lifecycles. Customers and partners will be notified and updated in advance of all product announcements.
“Regardless if you are a small business owner or the IT director for a Fortune 500 company, digitally transforming your organisation to leverage business applications in the cloud, connect remote workers, and access collaboration tools that work in and out of the office, can be daunting. But it doesn’t have to mean ripping out everything already in place or stranding investments already made,” said Elka Popova, Vice President and Senior Fellow, Connected Work and Digital Experience, Frost and Sullivan.
“Companies need a pragmatic blueprint to move to the cloud, and with ShoreTel solutions now part of Mitel’s portfolio, Mitel is better-positioned to offer that kind of rational choice to more businesses so that customers can have their cake and eat it too.”
Transaction Details
In conjunction with the closing of the acquisition, Mitel today completed the financing of an incremental US$300 million term loan priced at LIBOR plus 3.75% with a LIBOR floor of 1.00% maturing in September 2023. Proceeds of the incremental term loan, along with credit available under the existing revolving credit facility and cash on hand from the combined companies, were used to finance the acquisition of ShoreTel as well as fees and expenses related to the foregoing.
BMO Capital Markets led the new term loan facility with Citizens Bank, N.A., HSBC Bank Canada and Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce serving as Joint Lead Arrangers and Joint Bookrunners. Citizens Bank, N.A., led the amendment of the existing facilities and will act as administrative agent for both the existing and new facilities. EA Markets LLC acted as Mitel’s independent financial advisor in conjunction with the arrangement and structuring of the financing.
*Source: Synergy Research, Q2 2017 UCaaS Market Share Report, August, 2017
About Mitel
A global market leader in business communications powering more than two billion business connections, Mitel (Nasdaq:MITL) (TSX:MNW) helps businesses and service providers connect, collaborate and provide innovative services to their customers. Our innovation and communications experts serve more than 60 million business users in more than 100 countries.
