CLAREMONT TO BOOST CHAMPION PRODUCTS <CH> STAKE
  Claremont Group Ltd, a New York
  investment banking firm, said it intends to boost its current
  10 pct stake in Champion Products Inc to as much as 15 pct of
  the total outstanding common stock.
      Claremont added that it asked Champion to put two
  representatives on its nine-member board of directors.
      Claremont previously disclosed in December that it had
  agreed to act in concert with Walsh, Greenwood and Co, an
  affiliated investment firm, to acquire Champion Products.
      Claremont said it made net purchases of 7,800 Champion
  Products shares between Jan. 28 and March 18.
      In a March 20 letter to Champion Chairman John Tanis,
  Claremont and Walsh representatives Stephen Walsh and John
  Cirigliano said they were pleased with the company's
  performance but wanted to take an active management role.
      "We believe that Champion Products has just begun to evolve
  into the market leader it will eventually become," they said. "As
  significant shareholders with mutual interests with the
  company, we would like to actively participate in this process."
      Claremont's intentions and the letter were made public in a
  filing with the federal Securities and Exchange Commission.