A II-VI employee handles an optical coatings component within the II-VI Photonics Segment in Clinton Township. The company has announced it intends to buy its long time partner.

CLINTON TWP — An optoelectronic component maker has announced plans to buy a longtime partner.

II-VI, which works with optical solutions for networks, announced Monday its intent to acquire its former partner CoAdna, Holdings, a California-based company, in a cash transaction valued at about $85 million at closing. The sale is expected to close in the third quarter of this year.

“CoAdna and II-VI have been great business partners for many years, leveraging each other's complementary products and technologies to serve the optical transport market,” said Sunny Sun, president of II-VI Photonics Segment.

Founded in 2000, CoAdna manufactures wavelength selective switches, which is an important component in fiber optics.

Sun said the acquisition further prepares the company for the future of optical communications.

“We are eager to realize our synergies to grow the WSS business over our strong sales channels and shorten the time to market for our new products,” Sun said.

Mark Lourie, director of corporate communications, said the switch plays a major role in their optical communications line.

“It's used to switch the wavelength of light around the optical network,” Lourie said.

Lourie said the purchase does not complete II-VI's portfolio, as the company does not manufacture all the parts. But they now have all the vital pieces.

“It increases the portfolio,” Lourie said. “We don't have everything, but it does increase it in a significant way.”

He said the switch pairs with another major component in the process that II-VI manufactures: the pump laser, which amplifies the optical signal as it travels along the fiberoptic network.

“Our pump lasers enable as much as 50 percent of all global Internet traffic running through the optical transport network,” Lourie said.

II-VI got into optical communication in 2010 with acquisition of Photop Technologies.

“It gave us a microoptics platform for optical communications,” Lourie said. “It doubled our number of employees overnight and it gave us a footprint into the China market.”

Since then, Lourie said the company is so vertically integrated in optical communications that the company can manufacture some smaller components or the complete product, which is what's called a line card.

“We can talk about having all the components and modules all the way up to the line card,” Lourie said. “Vertical integration is not really a goal, it's a strength for the company.”

He said the market provides longevity to the line too.

“The overall market for the fiber optic components and modules is growing on the order of 11 percent per year according to some analysts,” he said.

He said the line should continue to be a staple for the company for years to come.

“It's a core product line for us,” Lourie said. “It'll continue to grow.”