ONE of Wales' richest men has become even richer - after selling his telecoms company Mitel, which has a base in Caldicot, for $2bn (£1.43bn).

Sir Terry Matthews, the owner of the Celtic Manor Resort in Newport, set up Mitel in 1972.

The tech firm, which is based in Canada but which has a site at Castlegate Business Park, Caldicot, is being bought by private investment firm Searchlight in a deal valuing the company at $2bn.

The 74-year-old is one of five Welsh billionaires with a total worth of £1.17bn. He is in the fourth position of the top 10 richest people in Wales on this year’s Sunday Times Rich List.

The Newport-born billionaire was previously the richest man in Wales until 2012.

His fortune has been eclipsed by Sir Michael Moritz who tops the list with £1.76bn fortune which he shares with his wife Harriet Heyman.

Mitel provides a range of unified communications products to businesses around the world.

In a statement company chairman Sir Terry said: "It also affirms the tremendous value and market leadership of Mitel.

"We believe this transaction will provide Mitel with additional flexibility as a private company to pursue the company's move-to-the-cloud strategy.

"Mitel has succeeded for 45 years because of persistent innovation and relentless focus on delivering shareholder value."

Rich McBee, the CEO of Mitel, echoed Sir Terry's enthusiasm by calling the deal an "exciting step" for the company and will form part of the company's continued transformation plans.