Mitel and Aastra close $374 million merger

Aastra will now fall under the Mitel banner, which now boasts an annual combined revenue of $1.1 billion and 60 million customers worldwide.

Under the terms of the arrangement, shareholders of Aastra received US$6.52 in cash plus 3.6 common shares of Mitel for each Aastra common share held.

The total amount of cash paid by Mitel was approximately US$80 million and the number of Mitel shares issued was 44,162,509.

Mitel financed the transaction from cash on hand and from a portion of the proceeds from the new credit facility.

Mitel chief executive Richard McBee said the merger created the financial scale and operational leverage to drive shareholder value and profitable growth in an opportunity-rich consolidating market.

“We now have double the talent, tools and range of solutions to aggressively compete for a greater share of our market.”

In conjunction with the closing of the merger, Mitel completed financing of a US$405 million credit facility consisting of a US$355 million term loan maturing in January 2020, and an undrawn $50 million revolving credit facility maturing in January 2019.

Mitel chief financial officer, Steve Spooner, said he was pleased to have secured new credit facilities on very favourable terms.

“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.”

Proceeds from the new credit facilities were used to finance the merger of Aastra, repay the $259 million outstanding under the existing credit facilities, as well as fees and expenses related to the transactions.