Mitel buys Inter-Tel

With Microsoft, Cisco and Nortel putting their ever-bigger footprints in the market, is this the time for VoIP vendors to find solace in each others' arms? Mitel and Inter-Tel seem to think so. Mitel announced late last week that it was acquiring Inter-Tel for $723 million. The combined company will have annual revenues of more than $800 million, Mitel said. Both companies' customer base ranges from large enterprises to small businesses, but a statement from them claims that the combined company will be the number one provider to the SMB market, including a robust hosted services business. Inter-Tel was public; Mitel, which had filed for a public offering, is still privately held and will remain so after the merger. The sale is expected to close in the third quarter.

For more about Mitel's purchase of Inter-Tel:
- read this article from eWeek