CORNING, NY, Aug. 17 -- Corning Inc.'s board of directors has approved a three-for-one stock split of its common shares. The stock split is part of a Corning plan to jump ahead of the competition in the fiber optic technology market. In the last year Corning has reported $7 billion in acquisitions, doubled its workforce, and has invested $1.5 billion in its manufacturing capacity for optical fiber, optical components and liquid crystal displays.
Our decision to split the stock reflects our confidence that we are firmly established in markets that will continue to grow well into the next decade, said Roger G. Ackerman, Corning's chairman and CEO. Our position as the world's leading manufacturer of optical fiber gives us a unique ability to co-design fiber and optical components that both increase the carrying capacity of the network and decrease the cost of transmission. We will exploit this competitive advantage by continuing to develop a rapid succession of new products through a combination of internal innovations and external acquisitions.
The stock split will be effected as a special stock dividend of two additional shares of common stock for each share of Corning's common stock held by shareholders of record on September 5, 2000. The new shares will be issued on October 3, 2000.