Shares of Sun Valley-based Flamemaster Corp. surged as much as 122 percent on Wednesday after the company set plans for a 7-for-1 stock split to avoid being delisted by the Nasdaq SmallCap Market.

Flamemaster Chief Executive Joseph Mazin said the stock split will boost the company’s public float to 500,000 shares, the minimum necessary to maintain its stock listing. The company plans to use the additional stock in its previously announced merger with Best Candy & Tobacco Co., a Phoenix-based distributor to convenience stores and casinos.

If the deal is approved, Best Candy will take over Flamemaster’s public listing. Flamemaster, a manufacturer of aircraft sealants and protective coatings, would be spun-off as a private company. Shareholders would receive an interest in both entities, said Mazin.

“We are interested in becoming a non-reporting company and the reason to get into the candy company is to give shareholders a benefit going forward,” he said.

Aries Capital Partners LLC of Pasadena is facilitating the deal. Flamemaster filed with securities regulators in October to delist its stock, citing the severe financial and management burdens of complying with Sarbanes-Oxley requirements. But by November, the potential deal to acquire Best Candy prompted Flamemaster to appeal its own delisting.

If the deal is approved, Best Candy, with $55 million in sales, would end up owning 90 percent of the merged company’s stock. Mazin said Best Candy would be able to use its stock to acquire other companies. A call to executives at Best Candy was not returned.

In late trading on Wednesday, Flamemaster shares had jumped $21.20 each to $54.20 with 84,420 shares trading hands. (Average daily volume is just 1,600 shares.) Earlier in the day, the shares rose as high as $69.60 each.