SABRELINER TO BUY CALIFORNIA COMPANY

Sabreliner Corp., headquartered in St. Louis, has agreed to purchased a California-based aircraft-engine overhaul business.

The deal to buy National Airmotive Corp. of Oakland, Calif., from a diversified investment company called Triton Group Ltd. of San Diego, was announced late last week.

Sabreliner, which also has a branch operation at the Perryville Municipal Airport, expects to pay from $12 million to $15 million in cash and to assume about $15 million in debt, Sabreliner chairman and chief executive F. Holmes Lamoreux said.

Privately held Sabreliner, with 1,000 employees, repairs and services aircraft and also overhauls aircraft engines. Its annual sales total about $145 million.

National Airmotive, with sales of about $70 million and 300 employees, is best known for its work on engines for military and commercial cargo planes and helicopters.

The sale would broaden Sabreliner's aircraft-repair business and further lessen its dependence on military work.

Last month, Sabreliner bought Midcoast Aviation Inc. of St. Louis from Trans World Airlines in a $19 million deal. Midcoast, with sales of $45 million, works on commercial business jets and also fuels and houses aircraft.