Corning has agreed to buy substantially all of 3M’s Communication Markets Division to for $900 million in cash. The deal is part of the company’s strategy to spend $1 billion to $3 billion in acquisitions, Corning said.

3M’s communications business, which has annual global sales of about $400 million, consists of optical fibre and copper passive connectivity products for the telecom industry – including xDSL, FTTx and structured cabling systems – and, in certain countries, telecom system integration services.