Furukawa Electric, Japan's top fibreoptic parts maker, sealed a deal to buy loss-making Lucent Technology's fibreoptics unit yesterday for $2.3 billion (€2.6 billion).

The purchase price is about $225 million below an original agreement between the two firms and is a setback for Lucent, which is halving its global workforce. A spokesman for Lucent Ireland said the sale would mean a few Lucent sales staff transferring to the new firm.