Flamemaster Sells Stock in Utah Firm It Courted

Flamemaster Corp. in Sun Valley abandoned its interest in possibly acquiring Hydro Flame Corp. by selling most of its 8% stake in the company to A&E; Systems of Santa Ana.

Flamemaster, a maker of flame-retardant coatings and sealants, acquired its Hydro Flame stock in the fall and had said it was interested in a merger or other alliance with the Salt Lake City maker of recreational stoves and housewares. But then A&E;, which makes accessories for recreational vehicles, acquired an even bigger stake in Hydro Flame.

Flamemaster then decided “there was no point in continuing” its effort to buy Hydro Flame and decided to sell its shares to A&E;, Flamemaster President Joseph Mazin said.

He said Flamemaster sold 90,621 of its 95,381 Hydro Flame shares to A&E; for $3.31 a share, or about $300,000, which gave A&E; a controlling 52% of Hydro Flame. But Flamemaster still earned about $80,000 on its Hydro Flame stock, before taxes and other expenses, he said.