Drugmaker AstraZeneca agreed to sell its dental implants and medical devices unit Astra Tech to Dentsply International for $1.8 billion (1.1 billion pounds) in cash.

The U.S. dental company, which beat off bids from rival medical technology groups and private equity firms, said on Wednesday the acquisition would increase its revenue by around 25 percent and would be immediately accretive to earnings.

Astra Tech, which had revenue last year of $535 million, is the world's third-largest dental implants maker after Straumann and Nobel Biocare. It has a separate medical devices arm focussed principally on urology and surgery.