Corning and Nortel End Discussions

CORNING, NY, July 27 -- Corning Inc. confirmed today that it had held preliminary discussions with Nortel Networks exploring the potential combination of Nortel's optical-components business with Corning. Those discussions have been terminated by mutual agreement.

"We have and will continue to have a close working relationship with Nortel," said Roger G. Ackerman, Corning chairman and CEO. "We are committed to working together to create value-added solutions for our customers. It is Corning's objective to build the world's leading optical layer company. Our spectacular pro forma earnings growth through the first half of this year demonstrates the success of this strategy. We will continue to aggressively seek growth opportunities internally and through acquisitions in support of our business strategy. Central to this strategy is our core value of independence."

Corning said that it expects sales in Photonic Technologies to grow 100 percent this year and that the company has been investing heavily in expansions to meet the growing demand. The company recently announced a series of expansions at Corning Lasertron for a six-fold increase in capacity. In doing so, Corning is broadening its laser-manufacturing capability, from wafer fabrication through packaging. The company also said that it is aggressively adding capacity in optical amplifier modules and optical fiber to meet increasing customer demand.

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