Private-equity group Advent (www.adventinternational.com) is looking to buy the France-based industrial-supplies distributor IPH from fellow private-equity group PAI Partners.

If successful, Advent intends to combine IPH with its Wythenshawe-based industrial-maintenance-products distributor Brammer, to create a major European distributor of industrial supplies with revenues of more than 2.1 billion euros (£1.8 billion). It said that “the complementary geographic coverage, product knowledge and breadth of offering will further strengthen the value proposition for customers and suppliers.”

IPH distributes industrial supplies for maintenance and production applications in Europe. It offers power-transmission products, machining services, industrial supply services and product-related services.

It serves a range of sectors, including heavy industry, chemical, pharmaceutical, food-processing, energy, transport, automotive, petrochemicals and mechanical engineering. In 2016, it recorded revenues of £1.1 billion.

The proposed acquisition is subject to customary approvals, such as the completion of the consultation process with French workers’ councils, the signing of a definitive agreement and anti-trust and regulatory clearance.