Why Aastra Tech Shares Soared

Although we don’t believe in timing the market or panicking over market movements, we do like to keep an eye on big changes — just in case they’re material to our investing thesis.

What: Shares of enterprise communications company Aastra Technologies (TSX: AAH) popped 13% today after rival Mitel Networks (TSX: MNW) agreed to acquire it for $392 million.

So what: The cash-and-stock deal — $6.52 in cash plus 3.6 Mitel shares — values Aastra at $31.96 per share and represents a 13.2% premium to its closing price on Friday. Mitel is making the move to expand in Europe, yet another sign that the business communications market is consolidating amid the rapid transition to cloud-based services.

Now what: The deal is expected to generate about $45 million of run rate synergies within two years. “We believe that small competitors with narrow focus and limited global reach will quickly be marginalized,” said Mitel President and CEO Richard McBee. “Aastra’s solid financial structure, complementary portfolios, geographic reach, and large installed-base immediately augment and expand Mitel’s market footprint, enabling us to capitalize on a unique opportunity to leap-frog the competition and lead the market.” So while Aastra might be all popped out at this point, Mitel’s newly bolstered scale and geographic reach might be worth checking out.