SABRELINER ENDS TALKS

CLAYTON -- Sabreliner Corp. says it has ended talks to buy an aircraft-engine overhaul business in California.

Expansion plans were put on hold after officials failed to reach "a mutually acceptable agreement," Sabreliner officials said Friday.

Sabreliner, based in Clayton, had announced in December it had signed a letter of intent to buy National Airmotive Corp. of Oakland, Calif., from an investment group called Triton Group Ltd. of San Diego.

Sabreliner previously had said it intended to pay $12 million to $15 million in cash and to assume about $15 million in debt. F. Holmes Lamoreux, Sabreliner's chairman, had said that his company had enough cash reserves to pay for the acquisition.

The company said Friday that it is still seeking other acquisitions.

National Airmotive is a distributor and overhaul shop for aviation, boat and industrial engines made by Allison Engine Co.

It specializes in work on engines for military and commercial cargo planes and helicopters. Its annual sales are about $70 million.

Sabreliner repairs and services aircraft and also overhauls aircraft engines.

With its purchase of Midcoast Aviation Inc. of St. Louis in November, its annual sales are about $145 million.