ELKHART — After 22 years of being owned by Tomkins Industries, locally based Dexter Axle is about to be sold, employees learned Monday.

Dexter, which is a supplier to the trailer industry, will be acquired by The Sterling Group, a Houston-based private equity firm.

The sale is expected to close in the last three months of this year, according to an announcement from the Sterling Group.

@Normal:According to Franny Jones, director of marketing and investor relations with the Sterling Group, it’s too early to answer questions about whether the deal will mean changes for Dexter Axle. “We won’t be closing on the sale for at least a month,” Jones wrote in an email message to The Truth Monday afternoon. “We would be happy to answer any questions you have once the transaction closes.”

At Dexter’s headquarters Monday, the woman who answered the phone referred all questions to the company’s human resources director, who was out until next week.

According to Sterling’s announcement, “Upon closing this transaction, Sterling will have completed 22 corporate carve-outs in its 30-year history.”

According to the company’s website, Dexter, started in Elkhart in 1960 by Leonard Dexter, has plants locally and in Fremont, Albion, El Reno, Okla., and Monticello, Ga.

Dexter was sold to Philips Industries in the 1960s, then to London-based Tomkins Industries in 1990.