Corning to buy Tropel

Corning, the fiber-optic king, has expanded its realm and is purchasing Tropel, a manufacturer of precision optics and metrology instruments for the semiconductor industry.

The deal is worth about $190 million, based on the closing price of Corning common stock on January 22, 2001.

Corning hopes the addition of Tropel's technology and product lines will complement Corning's current range of microlithography optical materials and help Corning expand into the semiconductor industry.