Koboway Inc., a small Costa Mesa electronics...

Koboway Inc., a small Costa Mesa electronics manufacturer, said last week that its founder and major shareholder, Paul Ketchum, has agreed to sell his interest in the company to Sheldahl Inc., a Minnesota maker of high technology materials. Terms of the deal, which still await formal approval by both parties, were not disclosed.

Mary Wathen, Koboway’s president, said the Sheldahl deal would not change operations at the Costa Mesa company. “We’ll just become a wholly owned subsidiary of Sheldahl,” she said.

Wathen said Ketchum, who founded Koboway in 1972, has not been involved in the company’s operations for the last four years and was looking to formally sever his ties to the privately held company.

A Sheldahl statement said Koboway had sales of more than $10 million in its most recent fiscal year.