Oval Corp., which builds flow meters, said Wednesday it has ended its capital alliance with a subsidiary of Emerson Electric Co. of the U.S. by buying all the Oval shares held by the subsidiary.

Oval said it bought 5.95 million shares -- a 22.7 percent stake -- held by Emerson Japan Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of Emerson Electric, for roughly 625 million yen.

The move marks the end of all ties between Tokyo-based Oval and Missouri-based Emerson Electric.

In 1985, Oval signed a licensing agreement with Micro Motion Inc. of the United States, a wholly owned subsidiary of Emerson Electric, on the manufacture and sale of flow meters.

In the same year, Emerson Japan became Oval's biggest shareholder by acquiring its shares through a third-party allotment.

In 1998, differences emerged between Oval and Micro Motion over the manufacturing and sales rights of the flow meters and the companies terminated their agreement in October 2000.