OTTAWA, Ontario, June 11, 2014 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Mitel® (Nasdaq:MITL) (TSX:MNW), a global leader in business communications, today announced that Standard & Poor's has upgraded Mitel's long-term corporate credit rating to B+ from B on the strength of early integration success with Aastra following the completion of their merger at the end of January. In tandem, the credit rating agency also raised Mitel's rating on its existing term loan to BB- from B+.
In announcing Mitel's ratings upgrades Standard and Poor's further stated, "The positive outlook reflects our expectation that Mitel will continue to successfully integrate Aastra within the coming year, which should drive a sustainable improvement in earnings and strengthen the company's market position."
Steve Spooner, Chief Financial Officer of Mitel, commented, "We view the current ratings upgrades from Standard and Poor's as another strong third party indicator of the financial strength and value we see in the new Mitel. Our rapid and successful start on the integration of Aastra, as well as our world class portfolio, are delivering the customer value and the business value we envisioned from the combination."
Forward-Looking Statements
Some of the statements in this press release are forward-looking statements (or forward-looking information) within the meaning of applicable U.S. and Canadian securities laws. These include statements using the words target, outlook, may, will, should, could, estimate, continue, expect, intend, plan, predict, potential, project and anticipate, and similar statements which do not describe the present or provide information about the past. There is no guarantee that the expected events or expected results will actually occur. Such statements reflect the current views of management of Mitel and are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties. These statements are based on many assumptions and factors, including general economic and market conditions, industry conditions, operational and other factors. Any changes in these assumptions or other factors could cause actual results to differ materially from current expectations. All forward-looking statements attributable to Mitel, or persons acting on its behalf, and are expressly qualified in their entirety by the cautionary statements set forth in this paragraph. Undue reliance should not be placed on such statements. In addition, material risks that could cause results of operations to differ include the Mitel's ability to achieve or sustain profitability in the future since its acquisition of Aastra; fluctuations in the quarterly and annual revenues and operating results; fluctuations in foreign exchange rates; current and ongoing global economic instability, including the United States' economic sanctions imposed on Russia; ongoing political instability in Ukraine; intense competition; reliance on channel partners for a significant component of sales; dependence upon a small number of outside contract manufacturers to manufacture products; the ability to successfully integrate the acquisition of Aastra and realize certain synergies; and, our ability to implement and achieve our business strategies successfully. Additional risks are described under the heading "Risk Factors" in Mitel's Transition Report on Form 10-K for the eight month period ended December 31, 2013, filed on with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") on March 31, 2014, and in Mitel's 10-Q for the three month period ended March 31, 2013, filed with the SEC on May 8, 2014. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made. Except as required by law, we do not have any intention or obligation to update or to publicly announce the results of any revisions to any of the forward-looking statements to reflect actual results, future events or developments, changes in assumptions or changes in other factors affecting the forward-looking statements.
About Mitel
Mitel® (Nasdaq:MITL) (TSX:MNW) is a global leader in business communications that easily connect employees, partners and customers -- anywhere, anytime and over any device, for the smallest business to the largest enterprise. Mitel offers customers maximum choice with one of the industry's broadest portfolios and the best path to the cloud. With more than US$1 billion in combined annual revenue, 60 million customers worldwide, and #1 market share in Western Europe, Mitel is a clear market leader in business communications. For more information, go to www.mitel.com.
MITL-F