Mace sells Arizona car washes

Mace Security International Inc. of Mount Laurel said today it sold its Arizona Car Wash Region to Twisted Cactus Enterprises LLC for $19.25 million in cash plus $135,000 for inventory.

The business was sold at a price that exceeded its recorded net book value of about $17.3 million. Nine of the car washes were owned, and three were leased.

Mace is a manufacturer of electronic surveillance and personal defense products and an owner and operator of car and truck wash facilities. It is selling the car-wash operations to focus on the surveillance business. It still has 22 car washes.

The company said it will use the net proceeds of $8.5 million from the deal to repay debt and for expansion.

Mace also said is was notified yesterday that it is in violation of Nasdaq's requirement for timely filing of its latest quarterly financial report. It already had been cited by Nasdaq for not filing its 2006 annual report.

As a result, the company's stock is subject to delisting by Nasdaq. Mace said there will be a Nasdaq hearing on both filing violations on May 31.

Its shares were down 18 cents in early-afternoon trading at $2.63.