Mitel exits mobile

Article Excerpt

MITEL NETWORKS $9.43 (Toronto symbol MNW; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk) (613592-2122; www.mitel.ca; Shares outstanding: 121.9 million; Market cap: $1.2 billion; No dividends paid) will sell its Mitel Mobile to U.S. digital communications company Xura, Inc., for $350 million U.S. in cash. The company will also receive a $35 million U.S. promissory note and an equity interest in Xura’s new holding company—Sierra Private Investments L.P. That stake is valued at $125 million U.S. Mitel acquired Mitel Mobile (then called Mavenir Systems) in 2015 for $560 million U.S. It struggled to compete in Mavenir’s market, which is focused on technology that sends data over wireless networks. The sale to Xura will leave Mitel to focus on its core business of providing communications systems for corporations and governments. In addition, the company will pay down a big part of its $568.8 million U.S. debt. That figure equals a high 72% of Mitel’s market cap. Mitel Networks is a buy. buy…