Ottawa’s Mitel Networks hopes soon to see an end to the drama taking place over its effort to buy a U.S. competitor, Inter-Tel Inc., that would double its size.
Last month Inter-Tel founder Steven Mihaylo forced the company’s board to delay a special meeting of shareholders to approve the proposed US$723 acquisition until July 23, raising questions of whether management has the votes to okay a deal that Mitel believes will give it improved access to U.S. telecom system buyers.
Mihaylo, who owns 19 per cent of publicly-traded Inter-Tel and still sits on its board, told shareholders that he could manage a “leveraged recapitalization” of the Arizona-based maker of voice and data solutions without taking it private, which would yield “significantly greater present value” than the