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Though mergers and acquisitions happen every day, not all negotiations have been followed with the fervor or fanfare the Mitel and ShoreTel (News - Alert) discussions have evoked. It would appear, based on news out of Ottawa, Mitel has thrown in the towel and we have reached the final episode of ‘How the Business Communications World Turns.’

Today, Mitel (News - Alert) announced it is withdrawing its offer to purchase the outstanding shares of ShoreTel common stock. Based on a statement from the company, the decision has come out of frustration. Due to ShoreTel’s Board of Director’s lack of willingness to even discuss any transaction, Mitel has called off the dogs after upping its offer earlier in the month by nearly $35 million.

After today’s announcement, Mitel stock saw a gain of nearly half a percent, whereas ShoreTel has taken a slight nosedive—currently staring at a near 10 percent dip in stock price. ShoreTel was quite adamant during this contentious process that not allowing Mitel to take them over was in the best interest of the company, its partners and most importantly the shareholders.

Although it is plain to see that the unified communications space is experiencing consolidation, Mitel’s repeated attempts seem to be more focused on an upcoming release from ShoreTel that may prove to be a game-changer.

Early next year ShoreTel plans to release a common platform for its on-premises and cloud-based solutions. Zeus Kerravala (News - Alert), principal analyst with ZK research lists this as the primary impetus for Mitel to desire ShoreTel so greatly. “To me, this is the value that ShoreTel would bring Mitel," Kerravala wrote. "The single platform makes shifting to a hybrid model simple, it makes application integration easier, and it should enable a better mobile experience."

Mitel on the other hand, will not be able to overtake its greatest competition in North America however it still reigns supreme in Europe, Middle East and Africa with top market share. The UC provider powers more than two billion connections each day; of those 33 million are cloud-based—it is the world’s fastest growing cloud communications provider.

 “A review of recent cloud market share and growth rankings demonstrates the significant challenges ShoreTel faces as a standalone company,” Richard McBee said November 10 in a letter to ShoreTel’s board. “Our proposal, on the other hand, brings both an immediate and significant premium to your shareholders plus the opportunity for them to participate in the upside that would be created by a combination of our two companies.”

If McBee and his leadership team at Mitel still feel this way, this most recent episode of ‘How the Business Communications World Turns’ has just been a shot fired across ShoreTel’s bow. Stay tuned, as although it feels like the end of this saga, only time will tell. If Mitel is trying to ensure top dog status in the space of cloud communications providers this may not be a conclusion, but simply an intermission.