CHARLTON, Mass., May 1 -- FiberCore Inc. has signed an agreement to acquire Xtal Fibras Opticas S.A., a Campinas, Brazil-based optical fiber manufacturing facility, from parent Algar S.A. for $25 million in cash. This acquisition will be a significant step forward for both FiberCore and Xtal, said Mohd Aslami, FiberCore's president and CEO. We have been seeking to expand our capacity to meet increasing customer demand, and this acquisition provides another strong building block upon which we can grow our business and achieve our goal of increasing shareholder value. Xtal currently has sales of approximately $25 million, primarily from single-mode optical fiber in Brazil. With the integration of both FiberCore's and Xtal's technologies, we expect manufacturing capacity to increase significantly. Investment in new capital equipment will further increase production volume. Xtal currently enjoys the largest market share in Brazil, at approximately 35 percent. We plan to increase that position in Brazil, which is a rapidly growing market, as well as to export product manufactured in Brazil to satisfy the requirements of our global customers.