Private equity firms are understood to be the players most interested in buying the $400 million industrial business Questas Group Pty Ltd, with the sale process likely to be wrapped up by Christmas. DataRoom reported last month that the business was on offer by owner Allegro Funds (Allegro Funds Pty Ltd) through investment bank UBS, with expectations it might sell for about $400 million. Some industry experts believed that one of the most likely trade buyers to take a look would be Genuine Parts Company (NYSE:GPC) (GPC), which operates in similar areas to Questas.

Another is the company Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT). But the understanding is that mid-sized private equity firms will dominate the competition.