Read-Rite Corp <RDRT> said late on Wednesday it has formed a new fibre optics company, Scion Photonics Inc, with $25 million in initial funding from Tyco Ventures and Integral Capital Partners. Read-Rite also said it was in discussions with several other interested parties for more technology and capital investments into Scion.

Scion's business charter is "to design, manufacture and market high-performance optical components to the fibre optics communications market," Read-Rite said in a statement.

Scion will act as a separate company, but will have access to Read-Rite's resources and manufacturing infrastructure, Read-Rite chairman Cyril Yansouni said in a statement. Read-Rite is contributing its Milpitas, California wafer fabrication plant, technical and management resources and its knowledge and experience in thin-film technology and materials science to Scion, which will be based in Milpitas.

Tyco Ventures, the venture capital unit of Tyco International Ltd. <TYC>, invested $15 million in Scion and also invested $15 million in Read-Rite through a private placement with the company, Tyco Ventures president Richard Kashnow said in a statement.