Mitel has created a unified communications giant by acquiring Polycom for $1.96bn, forming a $2.5bn powerhouse better able to compete with Cisco and Microsoft in this market, which could bring top quality audio and video to the mobile-first enterprise. Polycom is bigger than Mitel in revenue and market capitalization, but Mitel was able to secure a $1.05bn loan from Bank of America Merrill Lynch to complete the deal. Polycom will continue to run as a separate business unit under its own brand, with Mitel chief Rich McBee as group CEO. The two companies are complementary. Polycom’s strengths are in videoconferencing platforms for large corporations and SIP phones for ISPs. Mitel has a full range of enterprise UC products, and has…