Laser equipment maker Coherent (NASDAQ: COHR) has picked a winner in the three-company buyout battle that started in January. Optical materials specialist II-VI (NASDAQ: IIVI) gets the nod, sending manufacturing process expert MKS Instruments (NASDAQ: MKSI) and optical communications equipment giant Lumentum (NASDAQ: LITE) home empty-handed. II-VI's winning bid will exchange each Coherent share for $220 in cash and 0.91 shares of II-VI. That offer values the target at $282 per share at Thursday's price for II-VI (though that will, of course, change as the buyer's stock price does). That adds up to a $6.9 billion deal, more than 20% above Lumentum's initial offer for Coherent. In a separate press release, Lumentum noted that II-VI's bid was 0.7% lower based on Wednesday's closing prices for each stock. Coherent management insisted that the II-VI bid was superior in other ways. "The combination of II-VI and Coherent will increase our collective exposure to irreversible megatrends for decades to come," said II-VI CEO Vincent Mattera. Image source: Getty Images. The drama started two months ago, when Coherent agreed to a cash-and-stock acquisition by Lumentum with a $5.7 billion total price tag. MKS Instruments stepped in two weeks later, offering slightly more generous terms in another cash-plus-stock bid. On Feb. 16, II-VI joined the fun with another part-stock and part-cash buyout offer. Coherent shrugged off MKS Instruments' bid, but signed a total of three revised term sheets with Lumentum and II-VI over the next several weeks. Coherent is sending a $218 million breakup fee to Lumentum and preparing to run the customary gauntlet of regulatory and shareholder approvals. The deal is expected to close in the fourth quarter. 10 stocks we like better than CoherentWhen investing geniuses David and Tom Gardner have a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, the newsletter they have run for over a decade, Motley Fool Stock Advisor, has tripled the market.* David and Tom just revealed what they believe are the ten best stocks for investors to buy right now... and Coherent wasn't one of them! That's right -- they think these 10 stocks are even better buys. See the 10 stocks *Stock Advisor returns as of February 24, 2021 Anders Bylund has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends II-VI and Lumentum Holdings. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.Source