Terry Matthews

Welsh-Canadian business magnate, serial high-tech entrepreneur (born 1943)

Sir Terence Hedley Matthews (born 6 June 1943) is a Welsh-Canadian business magnate, serial high-tech entrepreneur, and Wales's first billionaire. He was the richest man in Wales until 2012, when he was surpassed by Michael Moritz.2

From Wikipedia’s article on Terry Matthews (this version), CC BY-SA 4.0.

Born Jun 6, 1943.1

About

He has founded or funded over 100 companies in the high-tech communications field, most notably Mitel and Newbridge Networks. He is the chairman of Wesley Clover and the Swansea Bay City Region board. He owns the Celtic Manor Resort, KRP Properties, the Brookstreet Hotel, and the Marshes Golf Club.

From Wikipedia’s article on Terry Matthews, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.2

Companies

Early life and education

  • Date not recordedSwansea University3

Matthews was born in Newport, South Wales, at the then Lydia Beynon Maternity Hospital. Matthews returned as an adult to include the manor house that housed the hospital within the Celtic Manor Resort. He grew up in the town of Newbridge, Caerphilly. He studied at Swansea University and received a bachelor's degree in Electronics in 1969.

From Wikipedia’s article on Terry Matthews (this version), CC BY-SA 4.0.

Career

Occupation: business magnate, businessperson.6

After an apprenticeship at British Telecom's research lab at Martlesham Heath, Matthews left Britain and joined MicroSystems International, a chipmaking operation affiliated with Northern Telecom (which became Nortel Networks) in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.

Mitel

Matthews' first enterprise was started in collaboration with fellow Briton and Microsystems employee Michael Cowpland in 1972. To raise seed money for future enterprises they had planned, the pair intended to import and sell electric lawnmowers built in the UK. According to Matthews, the name Mitel was a contraction of "Mike and Terry Lawnmowers". This first endeavour was a fiasco; the shipping company carrying the first batch lost the container. When the lawnmowers finally arrived, the ground was covered with snow in the Canadian winter and no one would buy them. Matthews later said "That taught me a key lesson – the importance of timing. The shipping company lost the lawnmowers! By the time they showed up no-one wanted them, as you can't cut grass when it's covered with snow."

Mitel became a technology consultancy company run from home to the various companies around Ottawa's emerging high-tech district. Mitel's clients included the National Research Council, the Communications Research Centre, and a handful of pioneering start-ups including SHL Systemhouse, which was later purchased by EDS and now is part of HP and Quasar Systems (now Cognos).

Obtaining funding from a $1,000,000 bank loan, as well as from their own savings and a group of angel investors (notably Kent Plumley), the two developed a telephony DTMF tone receiver based on Cowpland's PhD thesis. This was a major advance in the technology, since they were able to sell receivers at a fraction of the cost of competing versions, while gaining returns of 1000%. Additionally, Mitel later became a chip manufacturer with the acquisition of the Silek foundry in Bromont, Quebec.

Later, the pair realized that the then-new technology of microprocessors and other semiconductor devices would make a similar change in the market for small PBXs. The SX200 PBX launched to immense success, being cheaper to purchase, quicker to install and far more functional. Mitel became one of the more successful manufacturers of small PBX systems and telecom semiconductors in the world, floating on the New York Stock Exchange in 1981.

In 1985, British Telecom bought a controlling interest in Mitel. Cowpland would later form the company that became Corel, and Matthews later founded Newbridge Networks.

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Newbridge Networks

In 1986, Matthews drove Newbridge to become a leader in the worldwide data networking industry, manufacturing data communications products, especially ATM devices and routers. In 2000 the company employed more than 6,500 employees with recorded FY 1999 revenue of $1.8 billion. Later in 2000, Newbridge was acquired by Alcatel for $7.1 billion. Matthews' personal stake in Newbridge was valued at over a billion dollars, and as a result of the transaction he became the largest single shareholder in Alcatel.

Return to Mitel

In 2000, he reacquired the Mitel PBX business and company name, taking it private. He has invested heavily ($600 million by 2006) in Mitel to turn it into a broadband communications company. The company has made significant investments in enterprise Voice over IP telephony technology. Mitel's manufacturing business was spun off as BreconRidge. The company acquired Intertel in April 2007. Mitel went public again in 2010. Mitel announced the purchase of Aastra Technologies in November 2013. Mitel announced the purchase of Mavenir Systems in March 2015. Mitel announced the purchase of Polycom in April 2016, however, the deal fell through and Polycom instead merged with private equity firm Siris Capital Group. In July 2017, Mitel announced they had reached a deal to buy ShoreTel for $430 million, increasing the size of the company to 4,200 employees. On 24 April 2018, the company announced it would be bought by an investor group led by Searchlight Capital Partners.

Other businesses

Wesley Clover – Matthews is the founder and chairman of the investment group. Headquartered in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, Wesley Clover has offices in the United States, United Kingdom, India, China and Russia. Investments in Information and communication technologies, digital media, and real estate.

Celtic Manor Resort - A 5* resort with a golf club attached to it, in Newport, South Wales

KRP Properties - Matthews company which manages land and buildings in the Kanata North Business Park

March Networks - Provider of IP video solutions. IPO on 27 April 2005. This venture was the first successful high tech IPO in the Ottawa area since 1999.

Bridgewater Systems – a software company enabling mobile service providers to personalize, manage, and deliver applications. Acquired by Amdocs in June 2011 for $215 Million

Ubiquity Software – Developer of SIP/IMS Application Server software platform, which was acquired by Avaya in Feb 2007 for about U.S. $150M and is the basis of Avaya's next generation solutions.

Convedia – a maker of VoIP/IMS Media Servers, which was acquired by RadiSys in 2006 for $US 105 Million and is the basis of Radisys' MediaEngine solutions.

Celtic House – Matthews and Roger Maggs co-founded Celtic House International Corporation (CHIC) in 1994. The objective was to invest in emerging high technology companies, primarily in the UK and Canada. In 2002, CHIC was re-structured to form Celtic House Venture Partners, a limited partnership owned and managed independent of Matthews.

Newport Networks - a maker of large carrier-grade session border controllers. On 18 March 2009, Newport Networks, with its two remaining employees, de-listed from the AIM. This is despite having announced twelve months earlier that the company had signed a major OEM agreement which was expected to substantially increase its product sales. The company has subsequently been wound up and liquidated.

Alacrity Incubator and Accelerator Program - Matthews founded Alacrity in 2009 along with his son, Owen Matthews, and Simon Gibson. Alacrity is a non-profit organization aimed at connecting established Western Canadian companies with venture capitalists and investment firms.

Additionally, Matthews is on the board of directors for a number of high tech companies including Solace (formerly Solace Systems), and chairs CounterPath Corporation and Benbria Corporation.

From Wikipedia’s article on Terry Matthews (this version), CC BY-SA 4.0.

Personal life

  • BornJun 6, 1943, Newport7
  • CitizenshipUnited Kingdom, Canada8
  • ResidenceKanata9

His daughter Karen is executive director at Wesley Clover Parks. His son Owen lives in Victoria, British Columbia, is a general partner at Wesley Clover, and is founder and chairman of the Alacrity Foundation. His youngest son Trevor is an actor, founder and CEO of Brookstreet Pictures.

From Wikipedia’s article on Terry Matthews (this version), CC BY-SA 4.0.

Philanthropy

Matthews founded the Wesley Clover Foundation, a not-for-profit, philanthropic corporation that supports entrepreneurship, healthcare, education, and community initiatives. The foundation leased the properties formerly known as the Nepean National Equestrian Park and the Ottawa Municipal Campground to create Wesley Clover Parks. Matthews hosts an annual gala, Lumière, that has raised over $1 million for charity.

From Wikipedia’s article on Terry Matthews (this version), CC BY-SA 4.0.

Awards

  • 2017Officer of the Order of Canada10 11
  • Date not recordedFellow of the Institution of Engineering and Technology10
  • Date not recordedFellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering10
  • Date not recordedKnight Bachelor10
  • Date not recordedOfficer of the Order of the British Empire10

Sources

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