CHRONOLOGY

1972: Telephone equipment manufacturer Mitel is launched by Terry Matthews and Michael Cowpland, two former employees of a Northern Telecom subsidiary.

1979: In Mitel’s initial public offering on the TSX, 4.5 million shares are sold at $3.50 each.

1981: The company begins trading on the NYSE.

1986: British Telecom (BT) buys 51 per cent control of Mitel.

1992: Schroders Ventures acquires that BT stake.

1993: John Millard is named CEO.

1998: Kirk Mandy takes over as CEO, and acquires Plessey Semiconductor assets.

2001: Mitel splits in two. The chip division becomes Zarlink and the telephone systems unit spun out as Mitel Networks under the ownership of Terry Matthews.

2002: Mitel Networks signs R&D deal with the federal government.

2007: The company completes a $724-million acquisition of Arizonabased Inter-Tel.

2009: Mitel says it will not be filing suit against the City of Ottawa, ending the saga surrounding a controversial telephone technology contract bidding process.

2010: Mitel raises $130.7M in IPO.

2014: Company signals shift to cloud technology with acquisition of Aastra Technologies.

2017: Company says it will acquire ShoreTel in $530M deal.

2018: Kanata-based Mitel agrees to be acquired by an American investment firm in a $2-billion cash deal designed to take the company private.