LONDON (Reuters) - Apollo and Apax are among private equity firms interested in the possible acquisition of Spanish industrial testing company Applus Services , people familiar with the matter told Reuters.

A consortium formed by I Squared and TDR has also expressed interest in acquiring the company, valued at €1.1 billion ($1.1 billion), according to these people, who asked to remain anonymous because the talks are not public.

Applus, which has received a number of proposals over the past year, is holding informal consultations with JPMorgan for a possible deal, the sources said.

Applus, Apollo, Apax, JPMorgan, I Squared and TDR declined to comment.

This exclusive information from Reuters sent Applus shares up as much as 14.5% on Thursday, reaching their highest level since February 2022, ending the session up 13.8%.

However, raising sufficient funds to help pay for an acquisition could be a challenge in current market conditions, said two of the sources, who added that no deal is certain.

The slowing economy worries some of the potential private equity bidders for the upcoming renewals of a pair of 10-year Applus contracts, according to two of the sources.

Still, private equity firms around the world are trying to take advantage of low stock market valuations to deploy their $1.2 billion in cash.

Prior to today's news, shares of Madrid-listed Applus had fallen more than 25% since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, as well as more than 50% from their all-time high, reached just after their IPO in 2014.

According to accounting firm EY, so far this year, buyout deals for delisting have accounted for more than 80% of private equity activity by value.

Applus lacks a controlling shareholder, as shares are split between institutional investors and asset managers who each own less than 6%, according to the Spanish stock market regulator's filings.

Spanish daily Expansión reported in March that Brookfield had approached the company a year ago.

(1 dollar = 0.9049 euros)

(Reporting by Andres Gonzalez and Amy-Jo Crawley; editing by Emelia Sithole-Matarise; Spanish edition by Dario Fernandez)